Materials with superior mechanical strengths are crucial to many areas of modern industries and the scientific enterprise by providing cutting and drilling tools, structural components, protective coatings, and abrasives that find wide applications. Solid solution strengthening is a well-established method to enhance hardness of metals by introducing solute atoms to create local distortions in the crystal lattice, which impedes dislocation motion and plastic deformation, leading to increased strength but reduced ductility and toughness.
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Source: Phys.org