Achieving antimicrobial and superior mechanical properties in a scalable and cost-effective heterostructured stainless steel

Heterostructured materials (HSMs) can alleviate the strength-ductility trade-off of conventional materials. Microstructure modulation by low-cost and large-scalable thermo-mechanical treatments is a feasible route to produce HSMs. Using these thermo-mechanical treatments, we have developed new heterostructured and antimicrobial stainless steels (HS&ASSs) to reduce the infection rate of multiple diseases while increasing their service life. The HS&ASSs were designed to combine several known strengthening mechanisms, which significantly improved the yield strength compared to their homogeneous counterparts while retaining good ductility. Effective antibacterial property is also observed in the HS&ASSs. The microstructural evolution and processing-microstructure-properties relationship are thoroughly explained. This work demonstrates that the improved mechanical properties of HSMs can be successfully combined with multifunctional properties, thus opening a new window for this fast-emerging field. © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.