Nanocarbon materials, such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, and their derivatives, are regarded as promising reinforcing agents in metal matrix composites (MMCs) because of their excellent intrinsic mechanical properties. Considering the various types of nanocarbons with different defect states and intrinsic properties, there is a potential for tailoring the mechanical behavior of nanocarbon-reinforced MMCs. This article reviews recent developments in both the processing and the structure–property correlations of these composites. Particular emphasis is given to the structure and properties of the nanocarbon–metal interfaces, as the external mechanical load is transferred between the nanocarbon and the metal matrix across their interfaces. Moreover, in addition to the intuitive load-bearing effect of the nanocarbon reinforcements, a copious interplay between nanocarbons and dislocations in the metal matrix has been found, which alters the deformation behavior that leads to additional strengthening. For structural applications, scalable fabrication routes for the nanocarbon-metal composites need to be developed, and studies on the mechanical behavior under real service conditions are needed.

Advanced lightweight materials, including high-strength steels, aluminum, magnesium, plastics, and reinforced polymer composites, are increasingly used in industry. Combinations of mixed materials are becoming commonplace in the design of structures. Adhesives can be used to join a wide range and combinations of materials. However, joining of materials depends on their specific characteristics. The choice of adherend material is one particular and important parameter that influences adhesively bonded joint performance, and its effect should be taken into consideration in the design of adhesive joints. This article overviews experimental and modeling investigations on the influence of adherend properties on the strength of adhesively bonded joints.

Predicting the structural response of advanced multiphase alloys and understanding the underlying microscopic mechanisms that are responsible for it are two critically important roles that modeling plays in alloy development. The demonstration of superior properties of an alloy, such as high strength, creep resistance, high ductility, and fracture toughness, is not sufficient to secure its use in widespread applications. Still, a good model is needed to take measurable alloy properties, such as microstructure and chemical composition, and forecast how the alloy will perform in specified mechanical deformation conditions, including temperature, time, and rate. Here, we highlight recent achievements using multiscale modeling in elucidating the coupled effects of alloying, microstructure, and mechanism dynamics on the mechanical properties of polycrystalline alloys. Much of the understanding gained by these efforts relies on the integration of computational tools that vary over many length scales and time scales, from first-principles density functional theory, atomistic simulation methods, dislocation and defect theory, micromechanics, phase-field modeling, single crystal plasticity, and polycrystalline plasticity.

Soft matter has historically been an unlikely candidate for investigation by electron microscopy techniques due to damage by the electron beam as well as inherent instability under a high vacuum environment. Characterization of soft matter has often relied on ensemble-scattering techniques. The recent development of cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) provides the soft matter community with an exciting opportunity to probe the structure of soft materials in real space. Cryo-TEM reduces beam damage and allows for characterization in a native, frozen-hydrated state, providing direct visual representation of soft structure. This article reviews cryo-TEM in soft materials characterization and illustrates how it has provided unique insights not possible by traditional ensemble techniques. Soft matter systems that have benefited from the use of cryo-TEM include biological-based “soft” nanoparticles (e.g., viruses and conjugates), synthetic polymers, supramolecular materials as well as the organic–inorganic interface of colloidal nanoparticles. Many challenges remain, such as combining structural and chemical analyses; however, the opportunity for soft matter research to leverage newly developed cryo-TEM techniques continues to excite.

We present a survey of modeling techniques used to describe and predict architected cellular metamaterials, and to optimize their topology and geometry toward tailoring their mechanical properties such as stiffness, strength, fracture toughness, and energy absorption. Architectures of interest include truss-, plate-, and shell-based networks with and without periodicity, whose effective mechanical behavior is simulated by tools such as classical finite elements, further scale-bridging techniques such as homogenization and concurrent scale-coupling, and effective continuum descriptions of the underlying discrete networks. In addition to summarizing advances in applying the latter techniques to improve the properties of metamaterials and featuring prominent examples of structure–property relations achieved this way, we also present recently introduced techniques to improve the optimization process toward a full exploitation of the available design space, accounting for both linear and nonlinear material behavior.

Functional and mechanical properties of modern devices are directly controlled by the stress and strain state acting on the materials within. For manufacturers, elastic strain engineering of complex materials systems throughout processing and utilization is crucial. This requires methodologies with ever-increasing spatial and temporal resolutions. On the other hand, the nanoscale elastic strain field around individual defects fundamentally controls the deformation of crystalline materials. To date, a variety of techniques are available for measuring elastic strain, including transmission electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction, and x-ray diffraction. Recent advances in instrumentation have dramatically improved speed and resolution, enabling direct elastic strain mapping during in situ deformation at the nanoscale. In addition, plastic strain can be determined during deformation using digital image correlation. Current techniques are surveyed here to accurately quantify complex strain fields at the nanoscale and their potential to resolve scientific challenges in materials science.

Laser-induced acoustic desorption (LIAD) enables the desorption of nonvolatile and/or thermally labile neutral compounds, such as asphaltenes, saturated hydrocarbons in base-oil fractions and biomolecules, from a metal surface into a mass spectrometer. This is a “gentle” evaporation technique and causes minimal fragmentation to the desorbed neutral molecules, including oligonucleotides and polypeptides. LIAD can be coupled with a wide range of ionization methods to facilitate analysis of the desorbed analytes by using many different types of mass spectrometers, including Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance, linear quadrupole ion trap and quadrupole time-of-flight instruments. The development and improvement of LIAD remains an active research area with diverse goals such as better desorption efficiencies, minimized analyte fragmentation and greater versatility. This article details the theory, experimental methods, applications, and future directions of LIAD in combination with mass spectrometry.

The exploitation of phase-change materials (PCMs) in diverse technological applications can be greatly aided by a better understanding of the microscopic origins of their functional properties. Over the last decade, simulations based on electronic-structure calculations within density functional theory (DFT) have provided useful insights into the properties of PCMs. However, large simulation cells and long simulation times beyond the reach of DFT simulations are needed to address several key issues of relevance for the performance of devices. One way to overcome the limitations of DFT methods is to use machine learning (ML) techniques to build interatomic potentials for fast molecular dynamics simulations that still retain a quasi-ab initio accuracy. Here, we review the insights gained on the functional properties of the prototypical PCM GeTe by harnessing such interatomic potentials. Applications and future challenges of the ML techniques in the study of PCMs are also outlined.

The cycling endurance of phase-change memory is one of the last hurdles to overcome to enable its adoption in the larger market for persistent memory products. Phase-change memory cycling endurance failures, whether they are stuck-SET (caused by elemental segregation) or stuck-RESET (caused by void formation), are caused by atomic migration. Various driving forces responsible for the atomic migration have been identified, such as hole-wind force, electrostatic force, and crystallization-induced segregation. We introduce several strategies to improve cycling endurance based on an understanding of driving forces and interactions among them. Utilizing some of these endurance-improving techniques, record-high phase-change memory cycling endurance at around 1012 cycles has been recently reported using a confined phase-change memory cell with a metallic liner.

Biological materials such as bone, teeth, and nacre boast remarkable structures and toughening mechanisms, many of them unmatched by engineering materials. In these materials, fracture toughness is key to fulfill critical structural functions and achieve high strength, reliability, robustness, damage tolerance, and notch performance. In this article, we review and discuss some of the main toughening strategies found in hard biological materials. In particular, we underline a “universal” strategy where well-defined microarchitectures, stiff building blocks, and weak interfaces operate in synergy to resist crack propagation. These natural materials have been inspiring the development of a myriad of synthetic materials that duplicate some of these features at the nanoscale and at larger scales. While recent materials show impressive properties, duplication of the architectures and mechanisms seen in natural materials still presents formidable challenges.

This article overviews the ultrasonic welding process, a solid-state joining method, using the example of welding of a magnesium alloy as well as the joining of magnesium alloys in general. In situ high-speed imaging and infrared thermography were utilized to study interfacial relative motion and heat generation during ultrasonic spot welding of AZ31B magnesium (Mg) alloys. A postweld ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation was performed to study the evolution of local bond formation at the faying interface (contact surface of the joint between the top and bottom Mg sheets) at different stages of the welding process. Two distinct stages were observed as the welding process progresses. In the early stage, localized reciprocating sliding occurred at the contact faying interface between the two Mg sheets, resulting in localized rapid temperature rise from the localized frictional heating. Microscale (submillimeter) bonded regions at the Mg–Mg faying surface started to form, but the overall joint strength was low. The early-stage localized bonds were broken during the subsequent vibrations. In the later stage, no relative motion occurred at any points of the faying interface. Localized bonded regions coalesced into a macroscale joint that was strong enough to prevent the Mg–Mg interface from further breakage and sliding. With increasing welding time, the bonded area continued to increase.

The mechanical response of modern alloys results from a complex interplay between existing microstructure and its evolution with time under stress. To unravel these processes, in situ approaches intrinsically have a critical advantage to explore the basic mechanisms involving dislocations, grain boundaries (GBs), and their interactions in real time. In this article, we discuss recent findings using in situ nanomechanical testing techniques and refined crystallographic analysis tools. Advancements in in situ nanomechanics not only include multiaxial loading conditions, which bring us closer to real-world applications, but also high strain-rate testing, which is critical to compare experiments and simulations. In particular, unraveling the details of GB-based mechanisms and related microstructural changes will facilitate significant breakthroughs in our understanding of the behavior of materials on macroscopic length scales.

Magnesium alloys usually lack “operative deformation slip mechanisms” because of their hexagonal close-packed structure. Therefore, the mechanical behavior of magnesium alloys at different temperatures is dictated by other deformation mechanisms such as twinning, detwinning, secondary twinning, or dynamic recrystallization (DRX). Twinning and DRX can affect the development of grain size and orientation distribution, as well as the deformation behavior of magnesium alloys. The current understanding of the mechanisms and mechanics of these different deformation modes and their implementation in crystal plasticity-based modeling are highlighted in this article. Future directions in the development of constitutive models are also discussed.

This article reviews the concept of metastability in alloy design. While most materials are thermodynamically metastable at some stage during synthesis and service, we discuss here cases where metastable phases are not coincidentally inherited from processing, but rather are engineered. Specifically, we aim at compositional (partitioning), thermal (kinetics), and microstructure (size effects and confinement) tuning of metastable phases so that they can trigger athermal transformation effects when mechanically, thermally, or electromagnetically loaded. Such a concept works both at the bulk scale and also at a spatially confined microstructure scale, such as at lattice defects. In the latter case, local stability tuning works primarily through elemental partitioning to dislocation cores, stacking faults, interfaces, and precipitates. Depending on stability, spatial confinement, misfit, and dispersion, both bulk and local load-driven athermal transformations can equip alloys with substantial gain in strength, ductility, and damage tolerance. Examples include self-organized metastable nanolaminates, austenite reversion steels, metastable medium- and high-entropy alloys, as well as steels and titanium alloys with martensitic phase transformation and twinning-induced plasticity effects.

Atomically resolved imaging of materials enabled by the advent of aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) has become a mainstay of modern materials science. However, much of the wealth of quantitative information contained in the fine details of atomic structure or spectra remains largely unexplored. In this article, we discuss new opportunities enabled by physics-informed big data and machine learning technologies to extract physical information from static and dynamic STEM images, ranging from statistical thermodynamics of alloys to kinetics of solid-state reactions at a single defect level. The synergy of deep-learning image analytics and real-time feedback further allows harnessing beam-induced atomic and bond dynamics to enable direct atom-by-atom fabrication. Examples of direct atomic motion over mesoscopic distances, engineered doping at selected lattice sites, and assembly of multiatomic structures are reviewed. These advances position the scanning transmission electron microscope to transition from a mere imaging tool toward a complete nanoscale laboratory for exploring electronic, phonon, and quantum phenomena in atomically engineered structures.

Ultrasonic sonochemistry and pulsed laser ablation in liquids (LAL) are modern techniques for materials synthesis that are in different ways linked to the formation and collapse of cavitation bubbles. We provide an overview of the physics of laser-induced and acoustically driven bubble oscillations and then describe how the high pressures and temperatures associated with ablation and bubble collapse, as well as emitted shock waves, take part in material synthesis inside and around the bubble. Emphasis is placed on the mechanisms of sonochemical synthesis and modification, and on a step-by-step account of the events from laser ablation through interaction of ablation products with the surrounding liquid up to the modification or aggregation of particles within the bubble. Both sonochemistry and LALs yield nanostructured materials and colloidal nanoparticles with unique properties. The synthesis process has been demonstrated to be scalable.

New cryogenic characterization techniques for exploring the nanoscale structure and chemistry of intact solid–liquid interfaces have recently been developed. These techniques provide high-resolution information about buried interfaces from large samples or devices that cannot be obtained by other means. These advancements were enabled by the development of instrumentation for cryogenic focused ion beam liftout, which allows intact solid–liquid interfaces to be extracted from large samples and thinned to electron-transparent thicknesses for characterization by cryogenic scanning transmission electron microscopy or atom probe tomography. Future implementation of these techniques will complement current strides in imaging of materials in fluid environments by in situ liquid-phase electron microscopy, providing a more complete understanding of the morphology, surface chemistry, and dynamic processes that occur at solid–liquid interfaces.

Architected materials are a unique and emerging class of materials where performance is fundamentally controlled by geometry at multiple length scales, from the nano- to the macroscale, rather than chemical composition alone. As a result, the realization of these remarkable materials is contingent upon the ability to faithfully reproduce the designed architecture. This presents fundamental challenges in fabrication due to the required three-dimensional complexity, multiple length scales, range of material constituents, possibility of multiple materials in a single architecture, and overall manufacturing throughput. Additive manufacturing (AM) processes can provide solutions to some of these challenges and are discussed in this article. Specifically, light-based and extrusion-based processes and associated materials are presented with an emphasis on recent developments, including volumetric additive manufacturing, and on-the-fly mixing of materials in extrusion-based printing systems. While remarkable advancements have been made in AM for architected materials, bringing these materials and processes to industrial realization remains a significant challenge.

Porphyrins and their associated derivatives have been widely used as photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of tumors. To overcome the limitations of porphyrin photosensitizers in PDT, the marriage of porphyrins and nanotechnology offers a new perspective to improve the efficacy and safety of porphyrin-based PDT. To date, various organic and inorganic nanoparticles have been developed for porphyrin delivery for high payload photosensitizers, protection from premature release of photosensitizers, and tumor-selective targeting. In this article, we summarize the strategies for porphyrin photosensitizer delivery, including encapsulation, covalent conjugation, self-assembly for PDT, and characterization methods of singlet oxygen (1O2) generation. We focus on the summarized strategies of improving cancer PDT efficacy by nanotechnology. Finally, the challenges and outlook for porphyrin-based nanocomposites-mediated PDT are discussed.

Biological entities are capable of amazing material feats, such as self-organization, self-repair, self-replication, and self-immolation. Indeed, the most intriguing feature of living biomaterials, whether they are tissues, cells, or intracellular structures, is their ability to autonomously sense, decide, and perform work without the need of a project manager. The effect is multiscale—from enzymes to full organisms, each level is capable of such autonomous activities. Further, each scale has similar energy-using units that work together to compose the larger-scale material. For instance, autonomous cells work together to create tissues. In this article, we will discuss some of the outstanding and desirable properties of active biological materials that we might consider mimicking in future materials. We will discuss how such active materials are powered and explore some fundamental lessons we can learn to direct future fundamental scientific inquiries to begin to understand and use these properties to make synthetic, autonomous materials of the future.