Alloy design based on single–principal-element systems has approached its limit for performance enhancements. A substantial increase in strength up to gigapascal levels typically causes the premature failure of materials with reduced ductility. Here, we report a strategy to break this trade-off by controllably introducing high-density ductile multicomponent intermetallic nanoparticles (MCINPs) in complex alloy systems. Distinct from the intermetallic-induced embrittlement under conventional wisdom, such MCINP-strengthened alloys exhibit superior strengths of 1.5 gigapascals and ductility as high as 50% in tension at ambient temperature. The plastic instability, a major concern for high-strength materials, can be completely eliminated by generating a distinctive multistage work-hardening behavior, resulting from pronounced dislocation activities and deformation-induced microbands. This MCINP strategy offers a paradigm to develop next-generation materials for structural applications.

Freestanding nanowires have been found to exhibit ultra-large elastic strains (4 to 7%) and ultra-high strengths, but exploiting their intrinsic superior mechanical properties in bulk forms has proven to be difficult. A recent study has demonstrated that ultra-large elastic strains of ~6% can be achieved in Nb nanowires embedded in a NiTi matrix, on the principle of lattice strain matching. To verify this hypothesis, this study investigated the elastic deformation behavior of a Nb nanowire embedded in NiTi matrix by means of in situ transmission electron microscopic measurement during tensile deformation. The experimental work revealed that ultra-large local elastic lattice strains of up to 8% are induced in the Nb nanowire in regions adjacent to stress-induced martensite domains in the NiTi matrix, whilst other parts of the nanowires exhibit much reduced lattice strains when adjacent to the untransformed austenite in the NiTi matrix. These observations provide a direct evidence of the proposed mechanism of lattice strain matching, thus a novel approach to designing nanocomposites of superior mechanical properties.

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