Scientists at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have found a way to make materials that they say are 3x stronger than steel, but behave moreMetallic glass alloys developed by UNSW materials scientists. like glass or plastic. The team created a way to develop metallic glass—a flexible amorphous alloy that they claim is the most significant materials science innovation since plastic.

According to the scientists, the material becomes as malleable as chewing gum when heated and is moldable or able to be blown like glass. Contrary to most crystalline structures, with atoms arranged in an organized and predictable manner, the alloy has a disordered structure. When solid, most metals are crystalline with atoms arranged in a highly organized manner. However, metallic glass alloys have a disordered structure, with the atoms arranged in a non-regular way. Metallic glass alloys to date have been expensive and difficult to manufacture. However, by making them easier and less expensive to make, the scientists believe the materials would be used widely in applications such as space exploration vehicles, hydrogen storage materials in next-gen batteries and in personal electronic devices.

In a recent study published in the journal Nature Communications, the research team describes the first model of the atomic structure of metallic glass and how they have used the model to predict in excess of 200 metallic glass alloys based on magnesium, silver, copper, zinc and titanium.

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