Revealing nanoscale plasticity of metallic nanosponges with correlative and scale-bridging 3D microscopy and modelling
Abstract Metallic nanosponges are well known to exhibit distinct mechanical properties that are considered to originate from the interwoven mechanics of the nanoscale ligaments as individual units and as a network. A comprehensive understanding of the physical mechanisms behind these properties spanning over several length scales is to date lacking. Here, by employing a correlative and scale-bridging workflow combining non-destructive 3D electron and X-ray tomography, in situ mechanics and experimentally-informed real-size modelling, we reveal the atomic origins of size dependent deformation mechanisms of nanoporous gold ranging from sub-ten to hundreds of nanometers. A realistic distribution of geometries and sizes of the ligaments appears to be crucial to accurately capture the mechanical response of nanoporous gold, including deformation gradients and plasticity. Our workflow demonstrates the potential for exploring the atomistic mechanisms of material plasticity with geometrical complexity.
Authors
- Julien Guénolé (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3288-8951)
- Peter Schweizer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8873-0950)
- Stefan Sandfeld (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9560-4728)
- Zhuocheng Xie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6580-2555)
- Florian Niekiel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8994-438X)
- Stephen T. Kelly (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9527-7912)
- Erich Thiess
- Benjamin Apeleo Zubiri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0498-7271)
- Aruna Prakash (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0795-5777)
- Erdmann Spiecker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2723-5227)
- Erik Bitzek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7430-3694)
- Hrishikesh Bale
- Mirza Mačković
- Thomas Przybilla
- Dong Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5940-9538)
Institutions
- Technische Universität Ilmenau (DE)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Forschungszentrum Jülich (DE)
- Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE)
- Arts et Métiers (FR)
- Max-Planck-Institut für Nachhaltige Materialien (DE)
- Carl Zeiss (United States) (US)
- Laboratoire d'Étude des Microstructures et de Mécanique des Matériaux (FR)
- TU Bergakademie Freiberg (DE)
- RWTH Aachen University (DE)
- Université de Lorraine (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Communications Materials
- Published
- 2025-09-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-025-00914-z
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Nanoporous metals and alloys
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.52
Funders
- Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Leibniz-Gemeinschaft
- Leibniz-Rechenzentrum