Metal Atomic Clusters for Oxygen-Bearing Materials: From Adversity Comes Opportunity
Atomic-level manufacturing is a frontier technology enabling materials to achieve ultimate performance. This study explores the potential applications and critical scientific issues of metal atomic clusters, which are predominantly used in catalysis but suffer from intrinsic instability, leading to low yield, inconsistent size and structure, and susceptibility to agglomeration, oxidation, and sintering. We propose a novel concept: employing oxidized metal atomic clusters as dopants in oxygen-bearing materials, such as oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloys, oxide-based cermets, and toughening ceramics. Using ODS alloy as a proof-of-concept, Ni-NiO coupled cluster-strengthened metallic Ni exhibits finer grains, a larger proportion of low-angle grain boundaries, higher geometrically necessary dislocation density, and achieves a 38% enhancement in Vickers hardness. To advance this concept, four critical scientific issues require resolution: oxidation control, disaggregation and dispersion, effectiveness comparison, and physicochemical behaviors and mechanisms. This work bridges the gap between atomic-level manufacturing and structural materials, offering a pathway to overcome the instability of metal clusters by leveraging their oxidation characteristics.