Collection 

High-entropy alloys and ceramics

Submission status
Closed
Submission deadline

The traditional approach to materials design is to start with a base composition and then tune its chemistry by adding smaller amounts of other elements or compounds. However, a new approach has emerged; mixing similar amounts of each component can result in only a single- or few-phase material. This has been demonstrated for a range of alloys and ceramics, which are generally known as ‘high-entropy’ materials. Interest in these materials is driven by: 1) advanced properties, which make them promising for applications such as structural components and in energy storage, and 2) fascinating science in how their properties are determined by their electronic, atomic and micro-scale structure.

This Collection will bring together the latest thinking and new understanding of high-entropy alloys and ceramics, and works related to their applications. A secondary aim is to encourage an exchange of ideas between the high-entropy alloys and high-entropy ceramics communities. Topics of interest include the following:

  • Fundamental understanding of formation, structure and behavior
  • Property characterization, including for specific applications
  • Applications demonstrations
  • Advanced theoretical, simulation and experimental approaches
  • Synergy between high-entropy alloys and high-entropy ceramics

We welcome the submission of any paper related to high-entropy alloys and ceramics. All submissions will be subject to the same review process and editorial standards as regular Communications Materials Articles.

Close-up of the structure of a high-entropy alloy/ceramic

Editors

Ben Breitung received his PhD from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in 2013, followed by a postdoc position in the Battery and Electrochemistry Laboratory at KIT/BASF in 2014. Since 2017, he was a group leader at the Institute of Nanotechnology at KIT. His research focuses on high-entropy materials and printed electronics. He is now leader of the ‘Nanomaterials for Electronic and Energy Applications’ group, which focuses on high-entropy and functional materials for electronic and energy applications in printed devices.

 

Francesco Maresca is a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the University of Groningen. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Eindhoven University of Technology in 2015, and then worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Mechanical Engineering institute at EPFL from 2015 to 2019. His research aims to provide a multi-scale understanding of plasticity, phase transitions and failure in metals, in order to develop predictive theories for guiding materials design. His current research is on high entropy alloys, hydrogen embrittlement, advanced high strength steels and shape memory alloys. He received the 2016 ‘Young Academics Steel Award’ from the Steel Institute VDEh, Germany, and was selected for the ‘Emerging Leaders 2021’ focus issue of Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering.

 

Eun Soo Park is a Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and a director of the Center for Self-Healing Materials at Seoul National University. He received his PhD in Metallurgical Engineering from Yonsei University, Korea in 2005 and worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Applied Physics at Harvard University from 2006 to 2008. His research interests are in the tailor-made design and synthesis of advanced engineering alloys and composites for extreme conditions as well as the physical understanding of phase transformations, microstructure evolution, and deformation mechanisms in metallic materials (including bulk metallic glasses, quasicrystals, high-entropy alloys, and self-healing metals). He received the TMS SMD ‘Young Leaders Professional Development Award’ (US, 2016) and a ‘Prime Minister’s Commendation for Innovative Inventions’ (Korea, 2019).

 

Simon Schweidler is a research scientist at the Institute of Nanotechnology (INT) at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). He received his PhD in Physical Chemistry from the Physical Chemistry Institute at the Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen in 2020. His research focuses on the development, preparation and characterization of new multicomponent materials and high-entropy materials for energy storage (Li-ion batteries) and catalysis. He is currently establishing his own research group at INT focusing on high-throughput synthesis methods, characterization and application of multicomponent and high-entropy materials.