Tag: metallurgy

One-grain-at-a-time: how in situ EBSD rewrote sink-strength theory for space aluminium

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Ultrafine-grained (UFG) aluminium alloys are strong candidates for space structures: their dense grain-boundary network acts as sinks that absorb radiation-induced defects (more in our perspective review https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmaterialsau.5c00139). But that advantage only survives if the microstructure does — and in Low-Earth Orbit, sunlit components reach ~200 °C, right where severely deformed aluminium begins to recrystallise. The … Continue reading One-grain-at-a-time: how in situ EBSD rewrote sink-strength theory for space aluminium

Folding, thinner, lighter, and stronger wings signals a quiet retreat for aluminium in aerospace

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Airbus has just announced the next phase of its Wing of Tomorrow programme: a three-year flight-test campaign, unveiled at Farnborough, that will bolt full-scale wing extensions onto an A321neo to trial the longer, higher-aspect-ratio wings destined for the successor to its best-selling single-aisle family. The extensions are several metres long and stand in for a … Continue reading Folding, thinner, lighter, and stronger wings signals a quiet retreat for aluminium in aerospace

How much radiation damage can you do in seconds?

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Qualifying materials for future fission and fusion reactors is painfully slow. Neutron irradiation is costly, time-consuming and leaves samples radioactive, while ion-beam alternatives require competitive proposals and scheduled beam time at oversubscribed accelerator facilities. In a new preprint, we ask whether an instrument already sitting in many microscopy labs — the plasma focused ion beam … Continue reading How much radiation damage can you do in seconds?

Professor Milos Djukic Brings Hydrogen Masterclass to Leoben

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This week we had the great pleasure of welcoming Professor Milos B. Djukic (University of Belgrade, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering) to Leoben — a world-class authority on hydrogen embrittlement and one of the most influential voices in the field today. Professors Djukic and Keckes at ESI. Professor Djukic visited at the invitation of Professor Jozef … Continue reading Professor Milos Djukic Brings Hydrogen Masterclass to Leoben

Grateful to be among the 2025 Rising Stars in Materials Science

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I am deeply humbled and grateful to the American Chemical Society and the editors of ACS Materials Au for selecting me as part of the 2025 class of Rising Stars in Materials Science. This recognition came as a wonderful surprise, and I am truly thankful to be included alongside 13 other outstanding early-career researchers from … Continue reading Grateful to be among the 2025 Rising Stars in Materials Science

New recycling processes or new materials?

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The sustainability debate in materials science sometimes asks the wrong questions. How do we recycle more aluminium & steel? These are legitimate — but they treat recyclability/sustainability as an afterthought, forcing materials never designed for circularity back into something useful at considerable cost and energy penalty: facts that Europe, specially, cannot anymore afford. The presence … Continue reading New recycling processes or new materials?

New Preprint: Unlocking Nanoscale Detail in Aluminium Alloys with DPC Segmentation

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We are pleased to share our latest preprint, now available on arXiv: Unlocking nanoscale microstructural detail in aluminium alloys through differential phase contrast segmentation in STEM (arXiv:2603.11643). In this work, we show how differential phase contrast (DPC) imaging in scanning transmission electron microscopy can be turned into a powerful, quantitative tool for characterising the microstructures … Continue reading New Preprint: Unlocking Nanoscale Detail in Aluminium Alloys with DPC Segmentation

Our Paper Among the Most Read Articles on ACS! 🚀

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We are excited to share that our recent perspective review, “The Legacy and the Future of Aluminum Alloys: Space Exploration and Extraterrestrial Settlement,” has been featured among the Top 20 Most Read Articles in the American Chemical Society (ACS) Materials Au! https://pubs.acs.org/action/showMostReadArticles?journalCode=amacgu Most Read Articles are refreshed daily and are based on full-text downloads (PDF … Continue reading Our Paper Among the Most Read Articles on ACS! 🚀

A snapshot of high-entropy alloy processing techniques and their effects on resulting mechanical properties

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With great pleasure I am sharing with you our new review paper entitled "A snapshot of high-entropy alloy processing techniques and their effects on resulting mechanical properties" written by Mr. Christopher Matthews, a brilliant alumni student from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Dakota School of Mines, now a Master Student in Metallurgy at … Continue reading A snapshot of high-entropy alloy processing techniques and their effects on resulting mechanical properties

The Spirit of Metallurgy at 75 Years Strong

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Professor Peter J. Uggowitzer was never officially my mentor or supervisor -- neither during my studies nor in my former postdoc in Leoben. Yet, his presence and friendship over all these years have profoundly shaped both my personal and professional life. Through him, I learned not just metallurgy, but how to think metallurgy -- how … Continue reading The Spirit of Metallurgy at 75 Years Strong