Realizing irradiation-resistant metallic alloys by immobilizing induced defects

Shasha Huang; Zhengxiong Su; Shihua Ma; Baichuan Xu; Haijun Fu; Xuepeng Xiang; Wenyu Lu; Ailin Yang; Zhongtao Li; Sergei L. Dudarev; Chenyang Lu; Zhenggang Wu; Shijun Zhao

doi:10.1038/s41467-026-73093-1

Realizing irradiation-resistant metallic alloys by immobilizing induced defects

Shasha Huang
, Zhengxiong Su
, Shihua Ma
, Baichuan Xu
, Haijun Fu
, Xuepeng Xiang
, Wenyu Lu
, Ailin Yang
, Zhongtao Li
, Sergei L. Dudarev
, Chenyang Lu^*
, Zhenggang Wu^*
, Shijun Zhao^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

Abstract

Materials capable of withstanding extreme conditions are essential for advanced fission and fusion technologies. The development of irradiation-tolerant structural materials hinges on the suppression of defect evolution that could lead to mechanical degradation. In this study, we present a novel strategy to effectively immobilize irradiation-induced defects through tuning the degree of local lattice distortion, an intrinsic characteristic of concentrated solid solution alloys. Our results show that increasing the degree of local lattice distortion significantly suppresses irradiation-induced microstructural changes. Notably, the single-phase binary Ni₈₀Mo₂₀ alloy, which exhibits the highest recorded degree of local lattice distortion (4.82% atomic size mismatch), demonstrates markedly frozen defect motion, resulting in negligible irradiation-induced effects. Our findings suggest that irradiation-resistant materials can be developed by engineering local lattice distortion, offering an easy-to-manipulate pathway to designing irradiation-tolerant metallic alloys. © The Author(s) 2026.

Original language	English
Journal	Nature Communications
Online published	15 May 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73093-1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73093-1
Publication status	Online published - 15 May 2026

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong (No. 11205224, S.Z.), National Natural Science Foundation of China (11975193, S.Z.), Key Program of National Natural Science of Hunan province (2024JJ3011, Z.W.), Hunan Province’s Key Research and Development Project (2023GK2091, Z.W.), Hunan Province’s Major Scientific and technological breakthroughs “Revealing the List and Taking Command” Project (2023ZJ1050, Z.W.), National Key Laboratory Project of China Minmetals Corporation (No. 2025GZYJ01, Z.W.), Science and technology innovation Program of Hunan Province (2025RC3105 and 2025RC1033, Z.W.), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (U2441258, C.L). The computational time provided by the CityU Burgundy Supercomputer is highly acknowledged.

RGC Funding Information

RGC-funded

Access Output

Other Access Options

Check CityUHK Library

Permanent Link

Right click to copy link

GRF: Designing Irradiation-Resistant Concentrated Solid Solution Alloys by Tunning Lattice Distortion
ZHAO, S. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator) & WU, Z. (Co-Investigator)
1/01/25 → …
Project: Research

Cite this

@article{59c74c1dc4d645559bda5310188f8550,

title = "Realizing irradiation-resistant metallic alloys by immobilizing induced defects",

abstract = "Materials capable of withstanding extreme conditions are essential for advanced fission and fusion technologies. The development of irradiation-tolerant structural materials hinges on the suppression of defect evolution that could lead to mechanical degradation. In this study, we present a novel strategy to effectively immobilize irradiation-induced defects through tuning the degree of local lattice distortion, an intrinsic characteristic of concentrated solid solution alloys. Our results show that increasing the degree of local lattice distortion significantly suppresses irradiation-induced microstructural changes. Notably, the single-phase binary Ni80Mo20 alloy, which exhibits the highest recorded degree of local lattice distortion (4.82\% atomic size mismatch), demonstrates markedly frozen defect motion, resulting in negligible irradiation-induced effects. Our findings suggest that irradiation-resistant materials can be developed by engineering local lattice distortion, offering an easy-to-manipulate pathway to designing irradiation-tolerant metallic alloys. {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2026.",

author = "Shasha Huang and Zhengxiong Su and Shihua Ma and Baichuan Xu and Haijun Fu and Xuepeng Xiang and Wenyu Lu and Ailin Yang and Zhongtao Li and Dudarev, \{Sergei L.\} and Chenyang Lu and Zhenggang Wu and Shijun Zhao",

year = "2026",

month = may,

day = "15",

doi = "10.1038/s41467-026-73093-1",

language = "English",

journal = "Nature Communications",

issn = "2041-1723",

publisher = "Springer Nature",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Realizing irradiation-resistant metallic alloys by immobilizing induced defects

AU - Huang, Shasha

AU - Su, Zhengxiong

AU - Ma, Shihua

AU - Xu, Baichuan

AU - Fu, Haijun

AU - Xiang, Xuepeng

AU - Lu, Wenyu

AU - Yang, Ailin

AU - Li, Zhongtao

AU - Dudarev, Sergei L.

AU - Lu, Chenyang

AU - Wu, Zhenggang

AU - Zhao, Shijun

PY - 2026/5/15

Y1 - 2026/5/15

N2 - Materials capable of withstanding extreme conditions are essential for advanced fission and fusion technologies. The development of irradiation-tolerant structural materials hinges on the suppression of defect evolution that could lead to mechanical degradation. In this study, we present a novel strategy to effectively immobilize irradiation-induced defects through tuning the degree of local lattice distortion, an intrinsic characteristic of concentrated solid solution alloys. Our results show that increasing the degree of local lattice distortion significantly suppresses irradiation-induced microstructural changes. Notably, the single-phase binary Ni80Mo20 alloy, which exhibits the highest recorded degree of local lattice distortion (4.82% atomic size mismatch), demonstrates markedly frozen defect motion, resulting in negligible irradiation-induced effects. Our findings suggest that irradiation-resistant materials can be developed by engineering local lattice distortion, offering an easy-to-manipulate pathway to designing irradiation-tolerant metallic alloys. © The Author(s) 2026.

AB - Materials capable of withstanding extreme conditions are essential for advanced fission and fusion technologies. The development of irradiation-tolerant structural materials hinges on the suppression of defect evolution that could lead to mechanical degradation. In this study, we present a novel strategy to effectively immobilize irradiation-induced defects through tuning the degree of local lattice distortion, an intrinsic characteristic of concentrated solid solution alloys. Our results show that increasing the degree of local lattice distortion significantly suppresses irradiation-induced microstructural changes. Notably, the single-phase binary Ni80Mo20 alloy, which exhibits the highest recorded degree of local lattice distortion (4.82% atomic size mismatch), demonstrates markedly frozen defect motion, resulting in negligible irradiation-induced effects. Our findings suggest that irradiation-resistant materials can be developed by engineering local lattice distortion, offering an easy-to-manipulate pathway to designing irradiation-tolerant metallic alloys. © The Author(s) 2026.

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-026-73093-1

DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-73093-1

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 2041-1723

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

ER -

Realizing irradiation-resistant metallic alloys by immobilizing induced defects

Abstract

Funding

RGC Funding Information

Access Output

Other Access Options

Permanent Link

Fingerprint

Projects

GRF: Designing Irradiation-Resistant Concentrated Solid Solution Alloys by Tunning Lattice Distortion

Cite this