Alloy

Researchers have alloyed arsenic with phosphorus to create single-atom-thick ribbons that are highly conductive, making them ideal candidates for use in next-generation batteries, solar cells and quantum computers.

Strength and flexibility are two opposites that usually need to be balanced in steel. But now engineers at Purdue University and Sandia Labs have developed a new treatment that can be applied to steel alloys to boost both strength and ductility.

Researchers have used a novel 3D printing technique to create a new superalloy with "previously unobtainable combinations of high strength, low weight and high-temperature resiliency" – and they say the implications in aerospace and energy are huge.

Researchers in New Zealand and Australia have grown tiny metal snowflakes, cubes, rods and other shapes. The nanocrystals form like snow out of a liquid metal, demonstrated an intriguing new potential method for manufacturing nanoscale structures.

A simple alloy has claimed the crown for toughest material ever recorded. A team led by Berkeley Lab discovered not only its incredible toughness, but high strength and ductility that improve in colder temperatures, unlike most known materials.

Scientists experimenting with the makeup of next-gen metals have developed a novel, copper-based alloy they say would be simple to produce at scale, and boasts unparalleled elasticity at room temperature.

Engineers have developed a new 3D-printed titanium alloy with a unique microstructure that makes it ultra-strong. Not only is it stronger than other forms of titanium, but it has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any 3D-printed metal ever made.

With new manufacturing techniques comes the opportunity for new metal alloys with a range of possible properties. A team of researchers has now developed a new 3D-printable alloy with a specific nanostructure that makes it ultra strong and ductile.

Scientists experimenting with the makeup of metal alloys used for medical implants have made a significant breakthrough, resulting in a biomaterial with the flexibility and wear resistance needed for long-term stints in the human body.

Instead of being cast as a solid piece of material, 3D-printed items can include material exactly where it's needed. The Elix handlebar stem takes this approach to a performance-boosting – and pocketbook-emptying – extreme.

With a view to constructing more durable components that can withstand the very harsh environments in an around aircraft and jet engines, NASA researchers have developed a novel metal alloy with an impressive set of qualities at extreme temperatures.

City University of Hong Kong researchers have accidentally discovered a first-of-its-kind high-entropy alloy that retains its stiffness, and actually becomes springier, instead of softening at high temperature. No other known metals behave this way.