Lee Hsun Lecture Series （238-Y20）

Topic: Innovative design and advanced manufacturing of strong-yet-ductile multicomponent intermetallic alloys

Speaker: Prof. Tao YANG

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Hong, Hong Kong, China 

Time: 10:00-12:00, (Mon.) Aug. 24^th, 2026

Venue: Room 403, Shichangxu Building, IMR CAS

Abstract:

Intermetallic compounds are bestowed by diverse ordered superlattice structures together with various unusual properties. In particular, the advent of chemically complex intermetallic alloys (CCIMAs), which are also called as the multicomponent intermetallic alloys (MCIMAs) or high-entropy intermetallic alloys (HEIMAs), has been received considerable attention in recent years and offers a new paradigm to develop novel metallic materials for advanced structural applications. These newly emerged CCIMAs exhibit synergistic modulations of structural and chemical features, such as self-assembled long-range close-packed ordering, complex sublattice occupancy, and interfacial disordered nanoscale layer, potentially allowing for superb physical and mechanical properties that are unmatched in conventional metallic materials. In this talk, I will critically review the historical developments and recent advances in ordered intermetallic materials from the simple binary to chemically complex alloy systems. The unique multicomponent superlattice microstructures, nanoscale grain-boundary segregation, and disordering, as well as the various extraordinary mechanical and functional properties of these newly developed CCIMAs will be highlighted. Finally, perspectives on the future research orientation, challenges, and opportunities of this new frontier are provided. This conceptual design of CCIMAs may lead to families of new-type high-temperature structural materials, which will be of great interest for a broad range of applications in aerospace, automotive, nuclear power, chemical engineering, and many others.

Biograph:

Prof. Tao Yang is the recipient of the NSFC Excellent Young Scientist and the HKRGC Outstanding Young Scholar Award. He currently is working as the Associate Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at City University of Hong Kong and also serves as the core member of the Hong Kong 3D-APT Unit, Center for Advanced Structural Materials (CASM), and National Precious Metal Materials Engineering Technology Research Center of Hong Kong Branch (NPMM). He and his team have focus on the Innovative Design and Advanced Manufacturing of High-performance Structural Alloys for Extreme Environments and have achieved outstanding accomplishments during past decade.

Prof. Yang was selected as the Stanford's top 2% most highly cited scientists in 2021 - 2025. He has also won the Rising Star Award from the Hong Kong Institute of Advanced Studies (HKIAS), the Young Scientist Award from the International Union for Materials Studies (IUMRS), and the Outstanding Young Scientist Award from the Chinese Society for Materials Research (C-MRS), and Acta/Scripta Outstanding Reviewer, etc. Until now, more than 220 research papers in total have been published, receiving >16,500 citations with a H-index of 62. Among them, as the corresponding or first author, around 80 papers have been published in various top-tier journals like Science (3), Nature Communications (6), Acta Materialia (20), etc.