ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | OCTOBER 2025 6 METALS | POLYMERS | CERAMICS Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Tenn., are enhancing DuAlumin-3D for additively manufactured, high-temperature automotive components. The ORNL-developed alloy exhibits superior strength and resistance to deformation at elevated temperatures, outperforming all known aluminum alloys. ornl.gov. FRICTIONAL HEATING MAKES BETTER MAGNETS Researchers at NC State University developed a new technique to manufacture strong magnetic materials that improves the quality of the magnets, makes them quickly with less energy, and is cheaper. “Currently, to manufacture a magnet, industry relies on sintering metal alloy powders into a bulk solid at high temperature and under high pressure,” says Bharat Gwalani, assistant professor. “This is a complex, time-consuming process that requires a lot of energy and often results in the creation of flawed magnets.” The team experimented with a new magnet manufacturing process using friction stir consolidation where the alloy powder is set in a chamber, placed under pressure, and stirred with a rotating tool. “The energy from the rotational motion and the forge force— the pressure—sinters the powder into HYDROGEN FOR GREENER METAL PRODUCTION Scientists at Binghamton University and Brookhaven National Laboratory along with Stony Brook University and Columbia University are studying variations between hydrogen and carbon monoxide when used as reductants in the chemical reactions that fuel metal production. “For metal production, the key challenge is efficiently removing atomic oxygen from metal oxides to yield pure metals,” says Guangwen Zhou of Binghamton University. “The goal is to drive this reduction process using less energy, at lower temperatures, and with minimal carbon dioxide emissions. Our study offers insights that can help guide the choice of gases or reductants to accelerate reaction kinetics, making metal extraction faster, cleaner, and more energy efficient.” The team’s findings show hydrogen to be a greener alternative for metal production. “If we look at CO—because it’s mostly used as a method for metal production—if metal forms on the surface, it can block active sites and slow down the reaction kinetics,” says Zhou. “That makes the extraction process more difficult, which means you need to use more energy and higher temperatures.” When hydrogen is used, oxygen vacancies formed at the surface could migrate into the bulk of the oxide, enabling metal formation throughout the interior. Further, the surface remains largely intact with hydrogen, still capable of the catalysis required to spark chemical reactions. Because hydrogen protons help oxygen vacancies more easily migrate away from the surface, that also raises the possibility of replenishing them through counterdiffusion of atomic oxygen from the oxide’s interior to its surface, a self-healing behavioral feature. “If we use hydrogen, we can facilitate this process. For industrial applications, we can have that catalyst regeneration, without interrupting the catalytic process,” says Zhou. binghamton.edu. GKN Aerospace is expanding its manufacturing center in Newington, Conn., adding a production line for an additively fabricated engine component. The company will receive a $2.5 million grant from the State of Connecticut to bring in manufacturing operations from outside of the U.S. gknaerospace.com. BRIEFS Prof. Guangwen Zhou is co-author on a new study in Nature that could lead to greener and faster metal production. Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen. Schematic of friction consolidation process, demonstrating change from initial segregated powder particles into a consolidated sample. Backscattered electron images depict di erent phases that are present in both steps. Courtesy of A. Malakar et al., Nature Communications, 2025.
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