Unlocking property constraints through a multi-level ordered structure strategy

Abstract

Materials with unprecedented and exotic properties are crucial for addressing energy and environmental crisis. However, many existing materials are approaching performance limits due to inherent physical constraints. Here, we report a multi-level ordered structure (MOS) strategy to address these challenges. Using magnetic material as a proof of concept, we demonstrate a resistive magnetic metal with high thermal stability, which is challenging due to the abundant free electrons in metals and inherent instability of the magnetized state, but highly sought after for future high-frequency and high-power applications. The obtained MOS material features multiple ordered characteristics across different levels, exhibiting large electrical resistivity surpassing its constituents by 2600%, while achieving an over 100% improvement in magnetic thermal stability that outperforms state-of-the-art commercial counterparts. Furthermore, it also achieves enhancements in coercivity, corrosion resistance and stiffness. The MOS strategy manipulates functional processes to simultaneously overcome multiple physical constraints and transcend performance bottlenecks. A multi-level ordered structure strategy mimicking biological multi-structural features, concurrently unlocks multiple physical property limits. This new paradigm transcends traditional compositional design strategies to break performance bottleneck.