"Borrowed dislocations for ductility in ceramics ", a paper in Science

Professor Mingxin Huang of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and his team worked on the research for the topic “Borrowed dislocations for ductility in ceramics”. The research findings were recently published in Science on July 25, 2024.

Details of the publication:

Borrowed dislocations for ductility in ceramics

L. R. Dong, J. Zhang, Y. Z. Li, Y. X. Gao, M. Wang, M. X. Huang, J. S. Wang, and K. X. Chen article in Science

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp0559?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_content=alert&utm_campaign=SCIeToc&et_rid=35364636&et_cid=5294277 

Abstract

The inherent brittleness of ceramics, primarily due to restricted atomic motions from rigid ionic or covalent bonded structures, is a persistent challenge. This characteristic hinders dislocation nucleation in ceramics, thereby impeding the enhancement of plasticity through a dislocation-engineering strategy commonly used in metals. Finding a strategy that continuously generates dislocations within ceramics may enhance plasticity. Here, we propose a “borrowing-dislocations” strategy that uses a tailored interfacial structure with well-ordered bonds. Such an approach enables ceramics to have greatly improved tensile ductility by mobilizing a considerable number of dislocations in ceramic borrowed from metal through the interface, thereby overcoming the challenge associated with direct dislocation nucleation within ceramics. This strategy provides a way to enhance tensile ductility in ceramics.