Lean design of a strong and ductile dual-phase titanium–oxygen alloy | Nature Materials

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Unalloyed titanium boasts an impressive combination of ductility, biocompatibility and corrosion resistance. However, its strength properties are moderate, which constrains its use in demanding structural applications. Traditional alloying methods used to strengthen titanium often compromise ductility and tend to be costly and energy intensive. Here we present a lean alloy design approach to create a strong and ductile dual-phase titanium–oxygen alloy. By embedding a coherent nanoscale allotropic face-centred cubic titanium phase into the hexagonal close-packed titanium matrix, we significantly enhance strength while preserving substantial ductility. This hexagonal-close-packed/face-centred-cubic dual-phase titanium–oxygen alloy is created by leveraging the tailored oxide-layer thickness of the powders and the rapid cooling inherent in laser-based powder bed fusion. The as-printed Ti–0.67 wt% O alloy exhibits an ultimate tensile strength of 1,119.3 ± 29.2 MPa and a ductility of 23.3 ± 1.9%. Our strategy of incorporating a coherent nanoscale allotropic phase offers a promising pathway to developing high-performance, cost-effective and sustainable lean alloys.

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We thank Y. F. Wang (Stanford University), H. W. Luo, J. G. He and J. J. Yang (University of Science and Technology Beijing) and Y. H. He and P. S. Wang (Central South University) for their valuable discussions. Financial support was provided by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFB3701900), the National Program for Support of Top-notch Young Professionals, the National Natural Science Foundation Program of China (grants 52074032, 52130407, 52131307, 52071013, 51774035, 52174344, 51971036 and 52104359), the Frontier Technologies R&D Program of Jiangsu (BF2024021), the Natural Science Foundation Program of Beijing (2202031), the S&T Program of Hebei (20311001D), the Open Research Fund of State Key Laboratory of Mesoscience and Engineering (MESO-23-D07), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (FRF-TP-19-003C2, FRF-IDRY-GD21-002, FRF-IDRY-20-022, FRF-TP-20-032A2 and FRF-TP-20-100A1Z), the Scientific and Technological Innovation Foundation of Foshan (BK21BE007), the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering (DE-SC0010412), the Korean government (Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, MOTIE) and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (P0017304).

These authors contributed equally: Wangwang Ding, Qiying Tao, Chang Liu.

Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering, Institute for Advanced Materials and Technology, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, P.R. China

Wangwang Ding, Qiying Tao, Chang Liu, Gang Chen, Baorui Jia, Haoyang Wu, Deyin Zhang, Lin Zhang, Xuanhui Qu & Mingli Qin

Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Wangwang Ding & Hongmin Zhu

Institute of Materials Intelligent Technology, Liaoning Academy of Materials, Shenyang, P.R. China

Gang Chen, Lin Zhang & Mingli Qin

Ningbo Titan Advanced Materials Technology Co. Ltd., Ningbo, P.R. China

Gang Chen

School of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea

SangHyuk Yoo

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

Wei Cai

Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Peng Cao

State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, P.R. China

Xuanhui Qu

School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, and Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Jin Zou

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G.C., J.Z., X.Q. and M.Q. designed the study. W.D., Q.T. and C.L. carried out the main experiments. W.D., Q.T., G.C., C.L., S.Y., W.C., J.Z., P.C. and M.Q. analysed the data and wrote/reviewed the manuscript. P.C., H.W., B.J., D.Z., H.Z., L.Z. and X.Q. conducted the investigation and discussed the content of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the discussion of the results and commented on the manuscript.

Correspondence to Gang Chen, Xuanhui Qu, Jin Zou or Mingli Qin.

The authors declare no competing interests.

Nature Materials thanks Rajiv Mishra, Patrick Villechaise and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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(a) SEM image. (b) Particle size distribution. (c) APT reconstruction of the oxide layer on the powder surface. (d) Corresponding one-dimensional concentration profiles of Ti and O from c. The error bars are standard deviations of the mean.

(a) SEM image. (b) Particle size distribution. (c) HAADF-STEM image of the powder surface, with corresponding elemental mapping of Ti and O showing the interface between the oxide layer and Ti matrix. (d) BF-TEM image of the specimen made from the gas-atomized powder. (e) Representative room-temperature engineering stress-strain curves of the as-printed specimens made from the gas-atomized powder (oxygen level: 0.12 wt.%), custom-designed powder (oxygen level: 0.65 wt.%), and heat-treated powder (oxygen level: 0.65 wt.%). The data points and error bars represent the mean ± standard deviation (s.d.).

As-printed specimen: (a, b) SEM image and corresponding inverse pole figure (IPF) map, (c, d) TEM image and corresponding SAED pattern taken from the green dotted circle in c, (e) Fractography. Heat-treated specimen at 700 °C: (f, g) SEM image and corresponding IPF map, (h, i) TEM image and corresponding SAED pattern from the yellow dotted circle in h, (j) Fractography. Heat-treated specimen at 1000 °C: (k, l) SEM image and corresponding IPF map, (m, n) TEM image and corresponding SAED pattern taken from the red dotted circle in m, (o) Fractography.

(a) BF-TEM image with corresponding dark field (DF) TEM image and SAED pattern of the green circle in a. (b–j) BF-TEM images.

The data points and error bars represent the mean ± standard deviation (s.d.); n = 10 independent samples.

(a) STEM image of the as-printed Ti-0.67O alloy and corresponding elemental mappings. (b) APT analysis showing tomography and composition: three-dimensional atomic map (left) with iso-composition surfaces of 2.5 at.% oxygen, and corresponding one-dimensional concentration profile (right) across the pink pillar (left), highlighting oxygen segregation. The error bars are standard deviations of the mean.

(a) Initial configuration of the hcp Ti phase doped with one oxygen atom, where red and green points represent Ti and oxygen atoms, respectively. (b) Initial configuration of the fcc Ti phase doped with one oxygen atom, with red and green points representing Ti and oxygen atoms, respectively. (c) Formation energy of an oxygen defect at the octahedral site in the hcp and fcc lattices.

(a) Ti-0.27O alloy. (b) Ti-0.40O alloy. (c) Ti-0.75O alloy. Magnified HRTEM images exhibiting the interfaces between the fcc and hcp phases for specimens with different oxygen levels: (d) Ti-0.27O alloy. (e) Ti-0.40O alloy. (f) Ti-0.75O alloy, with stacking faults indicted by arrows.

(a) Representative engineering stress-strain curves. (b) Ultimate tensile strength and elongation as a function of oxygen content in the as-printed specimens. The data points and error bars represent the mean ± standard deviation (s.d.).

(a) TEM image showing several fcc grains within the matrix. (b) Corresponding SAED pattern from the green circle in a. (c) Representative engineering stress-strain curve. The data points and error bars represent the mean ± standard deviation (s.d.).

Supplementary Figs. 1–5 and Tables 1–3.

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Ding, W., Tao, Q., Liu, C. et al. Lean design of a strong and ductile dual-phase titanium–oxygen alloy. Nat. Mater. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02118-9

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Received: 20 June 2023

Accepted: 01 January 2025

Published: 17 February 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02118-9

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Lean design of a strong and ductile dual-phase titanium–oxygen alloy | Nature Materials