UCLA Scifacturing
Laboratory
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.
(December 23, 2015)
Magnesium infused with dense silicon carbide nanoparticles could be used
for airplanes, cars, mobile electronics and more
A team led by researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School
of Engineering and Applied Science has created a super-strong yet light
structural metal with extremely high specific strength and modulus, or
stiffness-to-weight ratio. The new metal is composed of magnesium infused with
a dense and even dispersal of ceramic silicon carbide nanoparticles. It could
be used to make lighter airplanes, spacecraft, and cars, helping to improve
fuel efficiency, as well as in mobile electronics and biomedical devices.
To create the super-strong but lightweight metal, the team
found a new way to disperse and stabilize nanoparticles in molten metals. They
also developed a scalable manufacturing method that could pave the way for more
high-performance lightweight metals. The research was published today in
Nature.
“It’s been proposed that nanoparticles could really enhance
the strength of metals without damaging their plasticity, especially light
metals like magnesium, but no groups have been able to disperse ceramic
nanoparticles in molten metals until now,” said Xiaochun Li, the principal
investigator on the research and Raytheon Chair in Manufacturing Engineering at
UCLA. “With an infusion of physics and materials processing, our method paves a
new way to enhance the performance of many different kinds of metals by evenly
infusing dense nanoparticles to enhance the performance of metals to meet
energy and sustainability challenges in today’s society.”