Metal alloys are used everywhere from aircraft to cutlery, making them an indispensable part of modern life.
Scientists are continuing to try to find ways to improve them – which often comes down to the way they're initially formed.
Steel is one of the classic alloy examples: mostly iron with a dash of carbon and other elements, making it much stronger and harder than iron on its own.
Now, an international team of researchers has come up with a new way of building alloys. The method, described in a new paper published in Science, promises to make metals that are several times stronger than the materials we rely on today.
The trick is using lower, more controlled temperatures than is normal for alloy manufacturing, and letting the metal 'bake' for a specific period.
This leads to a more stable and ordered configuration of atoms, set in blocks known as grains, that are both smaller and more well-packed than usual.
"For more than a century, alloy development has focused on composition and processing," says materials scientist Jian-Feng Nie from Monash University in Australia.
"Our work suggests that how atoms organize during manufacturing may be just as important.
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