Al2O3/Al hybrid nanolaminates with superior toughness, strength and ductility
Abstract Amorphous alumina is hard but brittle like all ceramic type materials which affects durability under impact or scratch. Here we show that alumina layers below 100 nm thickness when stacked with aluminum interlayers exhibit exceptional performances including toughness equal to 300 J.m−2 dete...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56512-7 |
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| author | Paul Baral Sahar Jaddi Hui Wang Andrey Orekhov Nicolas Gauquelin Alireza Bagherpour Frederik Van Loock Michaël Coulombier Audrey Favache Morgan Rusinowicz Johan Verbeeck Stéphane Lucas Jean-Pierre Raskin Hosni Idrissi Thomas Pardoen |
| author_facet | Paul Baral Sahar Jaddi Hui Wang Andrey Orekhov Nicolas Gauquelin Alireza Bagherpour Frederik Van Loock Michaël Coulombier Audrey Favache Morgan Rusinowicz Johan Verbeeck Stéphane Lucas Jean-Pierre Raskin Hosni Idrissi Thomas Pardoen |
| author_sort | Paul Baral |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Amorphous alumina is hard but brittle like all ceramic type materials which affects durability under impact or scratch. Here we show that alumina layers below 100 nm thickness when stacked with aluminum interlayers exhibit exceptional performances including toughness equal to 300 J.m−2 determined by on chip nanomechanics. This is almost two orders of magnitude higher than bulk alumina and higher than any other thin hard coatings. In addition, a hardness above 8 GPa combines with a fracture strain above 5%. The origin of this superior set of properties is unravelled via in-situ TEM and mechanical models. The combination of constrained alumina layers with ductile behavior, strong “accommodating” interfaces, giant shear deformability of Al layers, and plasticity-controlled crack shielding cooperate to stabilize deformation, dissipate energy and arrest cracks. These performances unlock several options of applications of Al2O3 in which brittleness under contacts prevents benefiting from remarkable functional properties and chemical stability. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-313476e38d8c42e9b6dbe5e8348d8ed8 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-313476e38d8c42e9b6dbe5e8348d8ed82025-02-09T12:45:04ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-02-011611910.1038/s41467-025-56512-7Al2O3/Al hybrid nanolaminates with superior toughness, strength and ductilityPaul Baral0Sahar Jaddi1Hui Wang2Andrey Orekhov3Nicolas Gauquelin4Alireza Bagherpour5Frederik Van Loock6Michaël Coulombier7Audrey Favache8Morgan Rusinowicz9Johan Verbeeck10Stéphane Lucas11Jean-Pierre Raskin12Hosni Idrissi13Thomas Pardoen14Mines Saint Etienne, CNRS UMR 5307 LGF, Centre SMSInstitute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering (IMMC), UCLouvainInstitute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering (IMMC), UCLouvainEMAT, University of AntwerpEMAT, University of AntwerpLaboratoire d’Analyse par Réaction Nucléaires (LARN), Namur Institute of Structured Matter (NISM), University of NamurTU Eindhoven, Processing and Performance of Materials Group, Mechanical Engineering, Groene LoperInstitute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering (IMMC), UCLouvainInstitute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering (IMMC), UCLouvainMines Saint Etienne, CNRS UMR 5307 LGF, Centre SMSEMAT, University of AntwerpLaboratoire d’Analyse par Réaction Nucléaires (LARN), Namur Institute of Structured Matter (NISM), University of NamurInstitute of Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics (ICTEAM), UCLouvainInstitute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering (IMMC), UCLouvainInstitute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering (IMMC), UCLouvainAbstract Amorphous alumina is hard but brittle like all ceramic type materials which affects durability under impact or scratch. Here we show that alumina layers below 100 nm thickness when stacked with aluminum interlayers exhibit exceptional performances including toughness equal to 300 J.m−2 determined by on chip nanomechanics. This is almost two orders of magnitude higher than bulk alumina and higher than any other thin hard coatings. In addition, a hardness above 8 GPa combines with a fracture strain above 5%. The origin of this superior set of properties is unravelled via in-situ TEM and mechanical models. The combination of constrained alumina layers with ductile behavior, strong “accommodating” interfaces, giant shear deformability of Al layers, and plasticity-controlled crack shielding cooperate to stabilize deformation, dissipate energy and arrest cracks. These performances unlock several options of applications of Al2O3 in which brittleness under contacts prevents benefiting from remarkable functional properties and chemical stability.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56512-7 |
| spellingShingle | Paul Baral Sahar Jaddi Hui Wang Andrey Orekhov Nicolas Gauquelin Alireza Bagherpour Frederik Van Loock Michaël Coulombier Audrey Favache Morgan Rusinowicz Johan Verbeeck Stéphane Lucas Jean-Pierre Raskin Hosni Idrissi Thomas Pardoen Al2O3/Al hybrid nanolaminates with superior toughness, strength and ductility Nature Communications |
| title | Al2O3/Al hybrid nanolaminates with superior toughness, strength and ductility |
| title_full | Al2O3/Al hybrid nanolaminates with superior toughness, strength and ductility |
| title_fullStr | Al2O3/Al hybrid nanolaminates with superior toughness, strength and ductility |
| title_full_unstemmed | Al2O3/Al hybrid nanolaminates with superior toughness, strength and ductility |
| title_short | Al2O3/Al hybrid nanolaminates with superior toughness, strength and ductility |
| title_sort | al2o3 al hybrid nanolaminates with superior toughness strength and ductility |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56512-7 |
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