Scientific Research

The central question is how extreme mechanical deformation changes the internal structure — and with it the properties — of crystalline metals. The method under investigation is High Pressure Torsion (HPT), a form of severe plastic deformation (SPD) that compresses and twists a disc-shaped sample under pressures of several GPa, producing grain refinement down to the nanometre scale.

The materials studied are L1₂-ordered intermetallics — crystalline compounds such as Ni₃Ge and Ni₃Al whose atoms occupy specific, ordered positions on the crystal lattice. SPD disrupts their long-range order and can unlock improved mechanical behaviour. Characterising that disorder via Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) is the core method: dislocation structures, dissociation schemes, and weak-beam imaging of metastable phases.

A second research stream investigates the use of SPD to improve hydrogen storage properties of light-metal systems — primarily MgH₂ and ZK60 magnesium alloy. SPD-induced defects act as diffusion paths and nucleation sites, accelerating absorption/desorption kinetics. This work also covers neutron-holographic experiments requiring preparation of metal-hydrogen systems, and the stabilisation of deformation-induced lattice defects in hydrogenated palladium.