At left, a deformed sample of pure metal; at right, the strong new metal made of magnesium with silicon carbide nanoparticles. Each central micropillar is about 4 micrometers across. (Photo : UCLA Scifacturing Laboratory)
Scientists have developed this new type of metal that can become a game changer when it comes to how airplanes, cars and even spacecraft are manufactured as it promises to be the most lightweight ever made.
This new metal is made from a combination of magnesium, ceramic silicon carbide nano particles where material scientists from the University of California reveal that this metal is super strong and lightweight. There are numerous breakthroughs in industrial metal however, the difference in this new type is its stiffness to weight ratio.
Researchers also believe that this metal is among the first in breakthrough manufacturing materials where they have come up with a new technique for creating an infusion of metals where nanoparticles do not affect the metal's strength and structure.
According to researcher Xiaochun Li from UCLA, prior to this, nanoparticles were believed to enhance materials' strength without damaging any of their plasticity especially light metals like magnesium. However, this is the first time that ceramic nanoparticles are mixed with molten materials.
Researchers believe that by infusing physics and material processing, this new method can pave a new way for further performance enhancement of many, different types of metal with evenly infusing dense nanoparticles. This can not only enhance the performance of these metals but also meet energy and sustainability challenges in global economies today.
When the researchers tested the magnesium after processing, they discovered that the newly infused metal possessed an even spread of nanoparticles. This new metal manifested improved strength, stiffness and plasticity including durability even under high temperatures.
Prior research showed that ceramic nanoparticles apparently have a tendency to clump together when they are added to metals, which made them stronger but their plasticity became significantly weaker. Scientists fixed this problem when they dispersed nanoparticles in the molten form of magnesium zinc alloy.
Magnesium is relatively abundant and if production technology is scaled up, there are potentially more industrial applications for this new type of metal. Apart from this, various types of metal can be mixed with this type of combination that can produce more revolutionary properties and functionalities.
This new study is published in the journal, Nature.
