# Thermal Instability Pathways of Aluminum‐Based Nanocomposites: The Role of Alloying‐Element‐Driven Precipitation and Amorphous Interlayers

https://mdr.nims.go.jp/datasets/fb557a7b-a62f-4e0c-9d9e-5cafa03b8f18

## File

- [Small - 2026 - Jansen - Thermal Instability Pathways of Aluminum‐Based Nanocomposites  The Role of Alloying‐Element‐Driven.pdf](https://mdr.nims.go.jp/filesets/414316c2-5c56-42f8-9a6f-bd03dc383fef/download) ([Detail](https://mdr.nims.go.jp/filesets/414316c2-5c56-42f8-9a6f-bd03dc383fef.md))

## Id

fb557a7b-a62f-4e0c-9d9e-5cafa03b8f18

## Local identifier



## Visibility

open_to_public

## State

published

## Created at

2026-09-01T07:39:59.581932Z

## Updated at

2026-09-01T07:50:20.557776Z

## Published at

2026-09-02T03:26:13.204191Z

## Doi



## First published url

https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.75393

## Date published

2026-08-22

## Recorded date published



## Resource type

journal_article

## Manuscript type

vor

## Collection



## Title

- title: 'Thermal Instability Pathways of Aluminum‐Based Nanocomposites: The Role
    of Alloying‐Element‐Driven Precipitation and Amorphous Interlayers'
  title_type: original
  lang: en

## Description

- description: 'Hybrid physical vapour deposition (PVD) combined with atomic layer
    deposition (ALD) enables the fabrication of metal/ceramic AlNi/AlO(H) nanolaminates
    with high room-temperature strength, controlled architecture, and promising functional
    performance, yet their thermal stability remains unresolved. Here, we establish
    design principles for thermally robust Al-based nanocomposites by systematically
    assessing their thermal instability through correlated synchrotron X-ray diffraction,
    high-resolution microscopy, atom probe tomography, and nanoindentation following
    vacuum annealing between 160◦C and 600◦C.Angle-resolved X-ray diffraction (XRD)
    reveals Al crystallite evolution while high-resolution microscopy unravels further
    instability mechanisms: At homologous temperature T hom ≈ 0.52 (∼210◦C), Ni segregation
    to Al grain boundaries competes with Al 3 Ni formation. Hydroxylated ALD-AlOxHy
    interlayers become mobile, driving swelling and oxidation of adjacent Al. At T
    hom ≈0.77 (∼450◦C), κ-Al2O3 crystallises, followed by interlayer rupture, while
    at T hom ≈ 0.94 (∼600◦C) the nanolaminate architecture collapses into a coarsened
    Al(Ni) matrix with dispersed Al2O3 inclusions. These coupled transformations progressively
    reduce hardness, transitioning from confined layer slip to matrix–inclusion-dominated
    deformation. Beyond elucidating degradation mechanisms, this work shows how hydrogen-mediated
    interface dynamics and the dual role of alloyed-Ni limit the thermal and mechanical
    stability, precisely identifying the onset temperatures, and providing a pathway
    to robust Al-based PVD/ALD nanocomposites.'
  description_type: abstract
  lang: und

## Creator

- name: Hendrik C. Jansen
  role: author
  orcid: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3513-4348
- name: Amit Sharma
  role: author
- name: Marcus Hans
  role: author
  orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1814-3101
- name: Fedor F. Klimashin
  role: author
  orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2152-7165
- name: Léo Lapeyre
  role: author
  orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6982-3131
- name: Dominik Gutnik
  role: author
- name: Jochen M. Schneider
  role: author
- name: Thomas E.J. Edwards
  role: author
  orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3089-0062
- name: Jakob Schwiedrzik
  role: author
  orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1239-1961
- name: Barbara Putz
  role: author
  orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9687-6346
- name: Johann Michler
  role: author

## Contact agent



## Publisher

organization: Wiley

## Managing organization



## Keyword

- subject: hybrid PVD / ALD
  schema: not_defined
- subject: nanocrystalline Al
  schema: not_defined
- subject: nanoindentation
  schema: not_defined
- subject: phase transformation
  schema: not_defined
- subject: thermal stability
  schema: not_defined

## Rights

- identifier: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

## Other identifier(s)



## Data origin



## Embargo



## Journal

- title: Small
  issn: '16136810'
  article_number: e75393

## Conference



## Related item



## Funding

- identifier: Z00P2_202089
  funder_name: Swiss National Science Foundation
- identifier: 42220.1 IP‐ENG
  funder_name: Innosuisse - Schweizerische Agentur für Innovationsförderung
- identifier: '409476157'
  funder_name: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- identifier: 24K23036
  funder_name: JSPS, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

## Instrument



## Instrument operator



## Instrument managing organization



## Measurement method



## Specimen



## Chemical composition



## Structure for specimen



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## Specific property for specimen



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## Computational method



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## Fileset

- id: 414316c2-5c56-42f8-9a6f-bd03dc383fef
  filename: Small - 2026 - Jansen - Thermal Instability Pathways of Aluminum‐Based
    Nanocomposites  The Role of Alloying‐Element‐Driven.pdf
  content_type: application/pdf
  size: 4056621
  md5: 0ec557e2b716ba9ff0ec510fc7a2c3f1

## Thumbnail

fileset_id: 414316c2-5c56-42f8-9a6f-bd03dc383fef
filename: Small - 2026 - Jansen - Thermal Instability Pathways of Aluminum‐Based Nanocomposites  The
  Role of Alloying‐Element‐Driven.pdf