Fabricating materials with strengths that approach theoretically predicted values is no easy task, and most techniques to make stronger materials rely on controlling defects so that dislocations can no longer move as freely. Industrial single-phase nanocrystalline alloys and single-phase metallic glasses, for example, can be very strong, but they usually soften at relatively low strains of less than 2%. A team of researchers at the City University of Hong Kong has now developed a new technique that combines the strengthening benefits of nanocrystallinity with those of amorphization to produce a dual-phase material with near-ideal strength at room temperature. The alloy, which is based on nanocrystalline magnesium cores embedded in magnesium-enriched amorphous glassy shells, has a strength of 3.3 gigapascals, making this the strongest magnesium thin film ever. It might be employed in a wide variety of applications, such biocompatible and biodegradable medical implants with excellent wear resistance and as a lightweight material in consumer electronics, as well as in aerospace and automotive parts……
http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/68456
