A research team at Xi'an Jiaotong University has developed a tantalum alloy that maintains strength at up to 2,400 degrees Celsius. Published last month in Nature, the work could apply to aerospace, hypersonic vehicles and nuclear reactors.
The team, led by Professor Sun Jun, focused on tantalum, a metal with a melting point near 3,000 degrees. They used oxide dispersion strengthening to overcome the rapid loss of strength that affects most metals above 2,000 degrees.
According to the Nature paper, the alloy sustains load-bearing performance under extreme heat. Conventional materials such as nickel-based single-crystal superalloys cannot cross the 2,000-degree threshold.
Potential uses include aerospace and nuclear reactors where materials must endure both high temperatures and heavy loads.