Trinity Fellow helps uncover how metals withstand extreme cold

Professor Dong (Lilly) Liu, Fellow and Tutor in Engineering Science at Trinity College, has contributed to a major international study revealing how certain metal alloys can withstand extreme cold without becoming brittle. The findings could help scientists develop tougher materials for use in aerospace, energy and other demanding environments.

The research, published in Nature, reveals a previously unknown mechanism that allows two experimental metal alloys to remain remarkably resistant to cracking at temperatures as low as −253°C.

Most metals become stronger as they cool, but some also become increasingly brittle and prone to fracture. The international research team, involving scientists from the University of Oxford, the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, discovered that two niobium-titanium-based alloys behave differently.

Rather than becoming brittle, the alloys undergo microscopic changes in their internal crystal structures that allow them to continue deforming under stress instead of cracking.

The researchers found that a process known as 'twinning', in which tiny regions of a crystal reorganise into mirror-image structures, works alongside changes in the crystal structure to create new pathways for deformation. This enables the metals to absorb stress even at exceptionally low temperatures.

Professor Liu, a corresponding author of the study, said:

"What surprised us is that these alloys remain remarkably damage tolerant even at 20 kelvin."

The team used specialist equipment at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source in Oxfordshire to test the alloys at temperatures approaching absolute zero. Advanced microscopy and computer modelling then helped reveal the mechanisms responsible for their unusual toughness.

Professor Liu's research at Trinity focuses on understanding how advanced engineering materials behave under extreme conditions, including those encountered in nuclear energy, aerospace and hydrogen storage applications.

The findings offer a promising new approach to designing materials that can withstand extreme temperatures, potentially supporting the development of safer and more resilient components for future technologies.

The study, Competing mechanisms toughen bcc binary and medium-entropy alloys at 20 K, was published in Nature on 14 October 2026.

Further information: Read the full story on the University of Oxford website.