Almost all of our projects are dedicated to alloy design for additive manufacturing.

Designing self-adaptive alloys for hydrogen storage

A Hydrogen economy can support deep decarbonization by providing greener and more flexible energy. However, storage and circulation of hydrogen has been a long-standing issue, as it leads to embrittlement at room temperature, and damage at cryogenic temperature (20K). We combine first-principle, thermodynamic calculations, and additive manufacturing to design new alloys that see their performance increase as they are cycled between ambient H-rich environments and cryogenic temperatures. Their performance is assessed through statistical measurements of plastic localization over statistically representative microstructure regions. These efforts are supported by the Energy and Biosciences Institute; Sandia National Laboratories/Department of Energy.

Heterostructured alloys via additive manufacturing

Heterostructured structural alloys are revolutionizing materials science by combining multiple phases or microstructures into a single material, achieving exceptional strength, ductility, and toughness. These alloys exploit the synergy between different microstructure regions, such as hard and soft domains, to enable unparalleled performance under extreme conditions. With applications ranging from aerospace to energy, they represent a cutting-edge approach to overcoming traditional trade-offs in structural materials design. Our group specifically develops novel heterostructured alloys using additive manufacturing, with applications in the nuclear, biomedical, and aerospace sectors. These efforts are supported by ARPA-E and the American Chemical Society.

Grain boundary engineering and multi-scale microstructure control in additive manufacturing

AM enables near-net-shaping in a large variety of materials, avoiding machining and reducing waste while saving energy and resources. However it generally induces strongly anisotropic properties, one of the main limitations to its broad adoption. We develop basic understanding of crystal nucleation and growth during AM, and post-processing. This project sees the development of new alloys that exhibit superior mechanical properties through grain refinement, and superior resistance to environmental degradation through grain boundary engineering; in-situ during AM. These efforts are supported by the National Science Foundation.

Radiation-resistant alloys by design

Nuclear energy promises a low-carbon future, but its success hinges on advancing materials that can withstand extreme radiation, high temperatures, and corrosive environments. While most nuclear materials see their performance decrease during service, we go against most efforts in the community and design alloys that self-organize under irradiation, by leveraging dynamic transformations happening during service: radiation-induced segregation (RIS) and precipitation (RIP), radiation-enhanced diffusion (RED), and radiation-induced amorphization (RIA). These efforts are supported by the Department of Energy Basic Energy Sciences.