Recently, the Functional Materials Mechanics team of Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) achieved a synergetic improvement of strength-ductility, and thermoelectric properties of Ag₂Te materials through a nanometre domain strategy, which was titled "Synergetic enhancement of strength-ductility and thermoelectric properties of Ag₂Te by domain boundaries" and published in Advanced Materials. The team's doctoral students Wang Hongtao, Lu Zhongtao and associate researcher Feng Xiaobin are co-first authors, and Professor Duan Bo and Professor Li Guodong are co-corresponding authors.

Figure1 Characterization of the micro-structure of Ag₂Te nanometre domains. (a) Microscopic morphology of samples without domain structure; (b) - (g) Microscopic morphology and structure of samples with domain structure.

Figure2 Mechanical properties and strengthening mechanism of samples containing Ag₂Te nanometre domains

To address the key mechanical issues of functional materials and devices in service environments and industrial applications, the Functional Materials Mechanics team of the School of Natural Sciences has focused on the theory and methods of atomic and molecular scale mechanics, the microstructure and properties of pressure-controlled materials, the relationship between multi-scale defect structures and transport and mechanical properties, and the design of new thermoelectric device structures and so on. They have achieved a series of innovative research results, providing support for the design and preparation of high-performance functional materials and devices.

Duan Bo, a professor and doctoral supervisor, mainly engages in research on the microstructure, strength plasticity, and transport properties of functional materials, as well as device design. He has successively presided over 3 National Natural Science Foundations of China and 2 provincial and ministerial science foundations, published more than 30 papers in Adv Mater., Energy Environ. Sci., J. Material Sci. Tech., J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. and other journals as the lead author or corresponding author, and authorized 5 national invention patents.

Li Guodong, a professor and doctoral supervisor, mainly engages in the theoretical and methodological research and material design on atomic and molecular scale mechanics of functional materials and micro-nano devices. He is an editorial board member of Acta Mechanica Sinica and Interdisciplinary Materials, and has undertaken research on many projects such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China's Outstanding Youth Fund and the National Natural Science Foundation of China's Key Research Program sub projects. He has published more than 50 papers in Mater Sci. Eng. R: Rep, Phys. Rev. Lett., Matter, NPJ. Comput. and other journals as the lead author or corresponding author.

Written by: Liang Haixia

Rewritten by: Li Huihui

Edited by: Li Tiantian

Source: School of Natural Sciences