As their name suggests, nanocrystals are tiny particles. These particles are crystalline elements with at least one dimension smaller than 1,000 nanometres, where a nanometre is one thousand-millionth of a meter.
Nanoparticles that are of size as small as below 10 nanometres become quantum dots. The Journal of Biotechnology offers comprehensive insights on nanoparticle classification, its physicochemical properties, characterization, and application.
Nanomaterials vary in terms of their dimension. For instance, they could be zero-dimensional, one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional. They may help form fullerenes, nanotubes, nanohorns, nanosheets, nanolayers, nanowires, and nanotube arrays.
They could be organic, carbon-based, or inorganic. And most importantly, nanoparticles possess a wide range of properties, including ones that could be mechanical, thermal, magnetic, electronic & optical, or catalytic. Such a broad spectrum of usability makes nanocrystals beneficial and conducive to making cutting-edge solutions for the future.
Development in the field of nanocrystals has given birth to nanocrystalline alloys. Scientists hold these alloys as especially significant for their unique hydrogenation properties. These alloys commonly have a grain size of less than 50 nanometres. A new research publication from Cornell University claims that nanoscale tweaks help alloys withstand high-speed impacts.
In the coming segment, we delve deeper to understand why this research is a breakthrough.
Addressing Deformation in Crystals and Embrittlement in Metals
Dislocations play a significant role in plastic deformation in crystals. At extreme strain rates, their motion shifts from thermally activated glide to ballistic transport, causing significant drag due to interactions with phonons. This is the reason for embrittlement and failure in metals.
In the research we discuss here, scientists present evidence that shows that in Cu-3Ta, a thermo-mechanically stable nanocrystalline alloy1, the phonon drag effect is entirely suppressed even at ultra-high strain rates (109 s−1). It happens due to the stable confinement of dislocations within several-nanometer ranges, limiting their velocity and interaction with phonons.
The study indicates that in confined environments, the dislocation-phonon drag effect is minimal, potentially improving material performance under extreme conditions.
All these might sound heavily technical. In the next segment, we can comprehend the phenomenon in terms of how it pans out on the ground.
Designing Metals and Alloys Ready to Withstand Extreme Impacts
In more comprehensible terms, the Cornell-led collaboration has devised a new method for designing metals and alloys that can withstand extreme impacts. The researchers have achieved this by introducing nanometer-scale speed bumps that suppress a fundamental transition that controls how metallic materials deform.
The researchers want us to imagine a case scenario where a metallic material is struck at an extremely high speed, similar to what happens in highway collisions and ballistic impacts. Embrittlement causes the material to rupture and fail and can be understood as the loss of ductility due to rapid deformation.
Researchers then explore the factors that contribute to the malleability of metals. This malleability is the outcome of tiny defects or dislocations that travel through the crystalline grain until they encounter a barrier. The pace of the dislocation accelerates under rapid, extreme strains. This heightened or accelerated dislocation—often happening at speeds of kilometers per second—begins interacting with lattice vibrations, or phonons, creating a substantial resistance. This interaction eventually leads to ballistic transport from a thermally activated glide, causing significant drag and embrittlement.
What do the researchers do to control such failures? Mostafa Hassani, assistant professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in Cornell Engineering, has the following to say:
“To suppress ballistic dislocation transport and the resulting phonon drag, we use the concept of confining dislocations’ motion, their glide, to nanometer scale.”
Mostafa Hasani led the team of Cornell researchers who worked alongside researchers from the Army Research Laboratory (ARL). To devise a solution, the team created a nanocrystalline alloy, copper-tantalum (Cu-3Ta).
Copper was chosen because its nanocrystalline grains were so small that the dislocations’ movement became inherently limited. Tantalum added value by further confining the movement through its nanometer clusters present inside the grains.
Click here to learn all about the revolutionary Ti-AL alloy.
The Carrying Out of the Experiment in the Lab
The researchers deployed a custom-built tabletop platform that launched spherical microprojectiles, 10 microns in size, via a laser pulse, reaching speeds of up to 1 kilometer per second—faster than an airplane. As the microprojectiles hit a target material, the impact was recorded by a high-speed camera.
As part of the experiment, researchers ran it with pure copper first and then with copper tantalum. To add variety to the test scenario, the researchers also repeated the experiment at a slower rate with a spherical tip, gradually pushed into the substrate, indenting it.
In measuring things at high rates, the researchers looked at data relating to the impact and rebound velocities and particle size. The right treatment of the data was crucial, as it could help isolate the contribution of dislocation-phonon drag and systematically suppress that contribution.
The suppression was definitely effective and yielded results as in a conventional metal or alloy; dislocations could travel several dozen microns without any barriers. But in nanocrystalline copper-tantalum, the dislocations could barely move more than a few nanometers, which are 1,000 times smaller than a micron, before they were stopped in their tracks.
This finding summarizes the breakthrough nature of the research. While embrittlement could be effectively suppressed, it was the first time the researchers saw behavior like this at such a high rate.
Moving forward, the researchers plan to expand their proposition from its deployment on one microstructure and one composition to tuning the composition and microstructures and controlling the dislocation-phonon drag. Would they be able to predict the extent of the dislocation-phonon interactions? That is something future experiments in the area would tell us.
While the future holds many promises and is full of possibilities, the applicability of the research is well-established already. The findings, as cited in the paper, could lead to the development of automobiles, aircraft and armour that can better endure high-speed impacts, extreme heat, and stress.
Real-World Applications & Timeline
Industry analysts and experts believe this advancement could lead to the development of more impact-resistant materials for use in automobiles, aircraft, and protective armor, with potential commercial applications emerging within the next 5 to 10 years as the technology matures and integrates into manufacturing processes.
Impact resistance is a crucial property for materials to have, especially for materials used in manufacturing. This property enables a material to withstand sudden, high-force impacts without breaking or deforming. Having a proper understanding of impact-resistant materials is crucial when dealing with applications in the fields of automotive, aerospace, industrial equipment, and consumer products.
Aerospace structures are vulnerable to a range of impact loads during their service, from bird strikes, hail impacts, and engine-fan blade-outs. Impact resistance is, therefore, one of the most critical evaluators for aerospace structure design as it affects the safety, reliability, and cost of aerospace structures.
The research may help attain enhanced standards of impact resistance. It is a crucial parameter to achieve success as impact loading can vary rapidly over time, causing material deformation under high strain rates.
The scientific community considers strain rate–dependent mechanical properties and failure characteristics of materials crucial for the safe design of engineering structures. The research discussion could significantly improve this aspect. However, scientists believe that assessing aerospace structures under impact loads presents challenges in high-fidelity experimental characterization and constitutive modeling, high-efficiency computational and simulation methods, and the development of novel anti-impact and energy-absorption structures.
Frontal and side impact resistance are crucial factors in evaluating the robustness of a car. In the Latin New Car Assessment Programme, for instance, frontal impact is performed at 64kph (40mph) as the car crashes into a deformable barrier with 40% of its width front on the driver’s side (offset).
More important is the parameter of side impact resistance, as side crashes account for the second-highest frequency of death and serious injuries in regions like Europe. To measure side impact resistance, as per the standards of the Latin NCAP, a deformable barrier is mounted on a trolley and is driven at 50 km/h into the side of the stationary test vehicle at right angles.
These are very crucial safety tests. They help determine the safety standards of a vehicle. For a manufacturer, this parameter is of utmost importance. Having high-impact resistance standards helps create trust for an automotive brand in the market.
The current research from the Cornell University team would help improve impact resistance, collision resistance, and crash resistance parameters of automotives by a significant margin. It would help revolutionize these industries by helping to build structures and vehicles that are significantly safer than the existing solutions of today.
However, for the research to yield results, we would need companies that would help implement scientific research-based solutions on a commercial scale. In the following section, we discuss a pioneering company in this space, ATI Inc. (ATI -1.82%), a leader in the production of advanced specialty materials and components, including high-performance alloys used in aerospace and defense applications.
Innovative Company
ATI Inc. (ATI -1.82%)
ATI Inc. is a provider of many services. It claims to solve the world’s challenges through materials science by enabling its customers, through its materials, to do amazing things – from operating jet engines at 2800 degrees Fahrenheit to equipping the nation’s defense to safely and efficiently transport highly corrosive liquids and exhaust streams, to enabling life-changing medical insights.
The company caters to a range of industries, including aerospace, defense, energy, medical, and electronics. It manufactures a variety of high-performance materials and components, as well as advanced alloys and solutions.
High-Performance Materials and Components by ATI Inc.
The company’s high-performance materials and components segment is responsible for producing, converting, and distributing materials that meet the needs of sophisticated end-user markets like aerospace and defense, oil and gas/chemical process industry, electrical energy, and medical.
Materials supplied by the company under this category include titanium and titanium-based alloys, nickel- and cobalt-based alloys and superalloys, advanced powder alloys, and other specialty metals in long product forms, such as ingot, billet, bar, rod, wire, shapes, and rectangles, and seamless tubes, plus flowform parts, precision forgings and machined parts.
The company offers fully integrated service that starts from the supply of raw materials (sponge) to melting, remelting, finish-processing, forging, and machining in its titanium and titanium alloys and zirconium and hafnium alloy products.
The Specialty Materials segment of the company ensures that materials such as titanium, nickel, cobalt, and steel, alloyed together through precise formulas and complex processes, develop resistance to wear, heat, and corrosion.
ATI’s nickel & cobalt-based alloys and superalloys, for instance, are used in jet engines, gas turbines, chemical processing, petroleum refining, marine, electronics, and other applications where common stainless steels may not provide adequate performance.
In the titanium and titanium alloy products category, ATI manufactures high-strength, commercially pure titanium and titanium alloy products in flat-rolled and long forms, net shapes, and components.
It is also involved in producing commercially pure titanium and titanium alloys such as near-net-shape titanium powder metals, titanium aluminides, highly-engineered titanium castings and titanium forgings, and machined titanium components.
Specialty steel products manufactured by ATI are known for their corrosion and heat resistance. These steel alloys find varied use in a range of industries, including aerospace and defense, chemical processing industry, oil and gas, electrical energy, medical, automotive, food equipment and appliance, construction, mining, transportation, and electronics.
ATI’s nickel & cobalt-based alloys and superalloys are used in jet engines, gas turbines, chemical processing, petroleum refining, marine, electronics, and other applications as complementary solutions for cases where common stainless steels may not provide adequate performance.
Altogether, ATI operates through a broad spectrum. It offers diverse solutions to a range of industries through its cutting-edge material science expertise.
In Q4 2024, ATI had its revenue up by 12% sequentially to $1.2 billion. Adjusted EBITDA was $210 million, above the company’s guided range of $181 million to $191 million. On a full-year basis, revenue was nearly $4.4 billion, ATI’s highest since 2012. Adjusted EBITDA was $729 million. And EBITDA margins were almost 17%.
When it comes to impact resistance specifically, ATI has many materials in its portfolio. Its ATI 302™ (S30200), ATI 304™ (S30400), ATI 304L™ (S30403), and ATI 305™ (S30500) stainless steels, for instance, are known for their impact resistance. This set of annealed austenitic stainless steels maintains high impact resistance even at cryogenic temperatures, a property which, in combination with their low-temperature strength and fabricability, has led to their use in handling liquified natural gas and other cryogenic environments.
The ATI 625™ alloy (UNS Designation N06625) is an austenitic nickel-base superalloy possessing excellent resistance to oxidation and corrosion over a broad range of corrosive conditions, including jet engine environments and in many other aerospace and chemical process applications. The product maintains high impact resistance at low temperatures.
These are only a couple of examples. There are many more sophisticated material solutions from the house of ATI.
Latest on ATI Inc.
The Future of Nanocrystalline Alloys
The future of nanocrystalline alloys is full of promises. Nanocrystalline magnesium-based alloys have attracted research interest for their potential to deliver improvement in mild or even room temperature hydriding kinetics. These alloys have also proven their efficacy in lowering the hydrogen desorption temperature.
The magnesium-based nanocrystalline alloys prepared by mechanical alloying exhibit significantly improved hydriding kinetics under moderate temperatures.
Research carried out over the last decade has shown that R&D efforts in nanocrystalline materials when properly modified, can make revolutionary contributions to improving material properties. These properties include kinetics and thermodynamics, structure, microstructure, and intrinsic and extrinsic magnetic properties.
Nanoengineering of metallic materials has also emerged as a crucial field of study. Nanostructured materials could be new, but they have already found engineering applications that require production in significant quantities of tonnage. More than 30,000 tonnes per year of the soft magnetic nanocrystalline alloys are produced by crystallisation of RSP amorphous ribbons.
Research marks nanocrystalline WC-Co composites as early success, with their superior hardness, toughness, and wear resistance, providing high-performance machining tools. The very fine structure of the nanocrystalline tools promises superior fine drilling and cutting performance in the micro-machining area. As per publicly available scientific reports and studies, nanocomposite aluminum and magnesium alloys containing a high volume fraction of nanoscale precipitates show very high strengths and moderate ductility.
However, these materials have been produced in only relatively small quantities and have not reached commercial application. Bulk amorphous alloy-derived nanocrystalline materials come with high strength and moderate toughness. However, further development is required to achieve ductility and toughness for critical engineering applications.
Altogether, nanocrystalline alloys correspond to a scientific field thriving with innovation potential and cutting-edge discovery possibilities. With time, it will revolutionize many other fields, like aerospace and automotive, for sure.
Click here to learn about the Rhenium, the high performance aerospace material.
Studies Referenced:
1. Tang, Q., Li, J., Hornbuckle, B. C., et al. (2025). Suppressed ballistic transport of dislocations at strain rates up to 10^9 s–1 in a stable nanocrystalline alloy. Communications Materials, 6(43). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-025-00757-8