Zhongxia Shang

High‐entropy oxides (HEOs), such as (CoCuMgNiZn)O, are attractive structural ceramics due to their compositional complexity and single‐phase stability. However, their intrinsic brittleness remains a major limitation. Here, we introduce a strategy termed as “controlled entropy destabilization” to activate defect‐mediated plasticity in a Co‐free medium‐entropy oxide (MEO) (CuMgNiZn)O. Spark plasma sintering produces a Rocksalt structure containing pre‐existing Cu‐rich secondary phases that act as defect sources during deformation. In situ SEM micropillar compression studies from room temperature to 600°C, combined with transmission electron microscopy and crystallographic orientation mapping, reveal a clear temperature‐dependent transition in deformation mechanisms. At room temperature, deformation is dominated by crack initiation with limited dislocation activity. At 400°C, thermally activated dislocation motion leads to delayed cracking and increased plastic strain accommodation. At 600°C, extensive dislocation glide and stacking‐fault formation produce pronounced plasticity and strain hardening. The fracture strain increases from 2.0% ± 0.3% at room temperature to 15.9% ± 0.1% at 600°C. These findings demonstrate that the controlled entropy destabilization approach can activate dislocation nucleation, migration, and storage, enabling intrinsic plasticity in multielement oxide ceramics at moderate temperatures.

3D multilayered conductive microstructures are essential for advanced electronic materials, heterogeneous integration, and next-generation interconnect architectures. However, fabricating high-fidelity multilayered metallic composites remains challenging due to the limitations of existing methods, process complexity, and high cost. Here, we present a patented fabrication strategy based on advanced membrane nanotechnology for developing multilayered copper microstructures. The method uses engineered isoporous polymeric templates as structural scaffolds that guide the in situ and monolithic growth of copper across multiple layers. This approach enables control over copper–polymer layer composition and geometry, as demonstrated with multilayered architectures containing up to 10 distinct layers, with the potential for even more complex configurations. Structural and interfacial characterization confirms continuous copper growth, coherent interfaces, oxide-free copper regions, and through-thickness electrical communication across the multilayer architecture. Compared with conventional repeated layer-by-layer semiconductor fabrication routes, the proposed approach simplifies multilayer construction and shows potential to reduce electrochemical deposition time compared to traditional semiconductor methods. This methodology broadens the design space for developing customizable, rapidly manufactured microstructured materials for applications requiring high structural integrity.

Nanoparticles have advanced catalysis, sensing, and biomedical engineering, yet their synthesis often requires complex processes, harsh conditions, or applied electrical bias. Here, we introduce a green, spontaneous, and bias‐free method for the direct deposition of metal nanoparticles on conductive substrates under ambient conditions. In this process, microdroplets containing aqueous metal salts are sprayed onto a conductive substrate templated with zero‐valent Zn microparticles. Within each microdroplet, a confined galvanic exchanged reaction generates Cu, Ag, Pt, and Au nanoparticles with mean diameters below 61 nm. Mechanistic studies indicate that nanoparticle growth arises from the coupling of localized galvanic exchange and lateral charge displacement across the underlying conductor. Unlike recent microdroplet‐based syntheses yielding free‐standing nanoparticles, our method forms substrate‐bound nanoparticles and alloy nanoparticles, without external energy input, non‐aqueous solvents, or external bias, and within minutes. By merging the foundational principles of galvanic chemistry with confined reactivity in microdroplets, these results open a path toward more energy‐efficient and environmentally sustainable synthesis of functional nanomaterials.

Intermetallics are highly attractive for their exceptional strength and high melting points, offering significant potential as advanced structural materials. However, their inherent brittleness at room temperature severely limits practical applications. In this work, we introduce a structure of framework of amorphous interfaces (FAIs) and preexisting dislocations into nanocrystalline (NC) CoAl intermetallics to synergistically enhance both strength and plasticity. Micropillar compression tests reveal a high yield strength exceeding 6 gigapascals, a sustained work hardening to approximately 8.5 gigapascals, and a compressive plastic strain exceeding 15%. The FAIs accommodate the plastic deformation of NC CoAl grains, preventing intergranular fracture while promoting dislocation emission and propagation into CoAl through deformation-induced crystallization. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations confirm that dislocations are emitted from crystalized regions (BCC-like local motifs) and reveal that preexisting dislocations impede dislocation motion via interactions and multiplication, promoting dislocation storage. Together, these mechanisms enable enhanced work hardening and large plasticity. This strategy offers an approach to achieving room temperature plasticity in brittle materials, which often show limited dislocation activity.

Equilibrium phase diagram of Cu and Fe predicts extremely limited solid solubility at room temperature due to their positive heat of mixing. However, nonequilibrium processing techniques can create supersaturated solid solutions with metastable phases. Here, we report depositions of equal atomic percentages of Cu and Fe at different substrate temperatures. Phase evolutions have been observed in Cu–Fe to occur significantly with variation in temperature. Cu–Fe films deposited at room temperature exhibited both face centered cubic and body centered cubic (BCC) structures, while higher substrate temperature (up to 400 °C) led to the dominance of BCC structures. Changes in precipitation behavior of Cu and Fe with temperature have also been reported. This study provides insights on tailoring the supersaturated metastable phases by changing the substrate temperatures.

Facilitated by recent advances in strained Ge/SiGe quantum well growth technology, superconductor–semiconductor hybrid devices based on group IV materials have been developed, potentially augmenting the functionality of quantum circuits. The formation of highly transparent superconducting platinum germanosilicide (PtSiGe) contacts to Ge/SiGe heterostructures by solid-phase epitaxy between Pt and SiGe has recently been reported, although with a relatively low critical temperature <1K. Here, we present a comparative study of the superconducting properties of Pt, Pd, Rh, and Ir germanides, along with an in-depth characterization of Ir(Si)Ge films formed by solid-phase epitaxy. For films fabricated under optimal epitaxy conditions, we report Tc = 3.4 K (2.6 K) for IrGe (IrSiGe). High-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy reveal that Ir reacts with Ge substrates to form a polycrystalline IrGe layer with a sharp IrGe/Ge interface.

Multiphase reduction of ambient dinitrogen (N ₂ ) was observed during the deposition of charged or uncharged aqueous microdroplets containing a lithium salt pre-catalyst onto conducting or inert surfaces to yield lithium nanoparticles.