The annual Impact Award has been established since 2021 by the editorial board of Materials Research Letters. The aim of MRL Impact Award is to recognize distinguished accomplishments that makes substantial contributions to the materials science field. The award is open to any scientists worldwide who have published papers in Materials Research Letters during the two preceding years and consists of two prizes: Original Report and Overview/Perspective. The winner papers are determined by the Award Committee after receiving the nomination from Editorial Board.

Stabilizing nanoprecipitates in Al-Cu alloys for creep resistance at 300°C

Y. H. Gao‍, ‍C. Yang, J. Y.Zhang, L. F. Cao, G. Liu*, J. Sun* & E. Ma*‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Commercial precipitation-hardened Al-Cu alloys are normally used at temperatures below its ageing temperature of ∼225°C, to avoid thermally induced precipitate coarsening and resultant softening. Making such popular Al alloys creep resistant at or above 300°C is thus challenging. Here we present a modified precipitation protocol, exploiting Sc-microalloying and a carefully designed three-step heat treatment to enhance Sc segregation at the matrix/θ′-Al2Cu precipitate interfaces. The stabilized nanoprecipitates enable an order-of-magnitude reduction in creep rate at 300°C, demonstrating the room for microstructure improvement and the potential for property elevation in traditional engineering alloys through innovative processing coupled with synergetic alloying elements.

Microstructures and properties of high-entropy alloy films and coatings: a review‍

Wei Li*, Ping Liu &Peter K. Liaw*‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

In the past 14 years, as abranch of high-entropy alloy (HEA) materials, HEA films and coatings haveexhibited the attractive and unique properties, relative to the conventionalfilm and coating materials. The recent research and development of HEA filmsand coatings are reviewed in this paper. At first, the basic concept of HEAsfilms and coatings are introduced. Then, their preparation technologies,microstructures and appealing properties are summarized. Moreover, the possiblereasons and design criteria for achieving the excellent properties arediscussed. Finally, the suggested future research work for the HEA films andcoatings are outlined.