2026-10-13T06:17:24Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33945365 2026-09-20T14:08:09Z category_1 category_4 category_915 category_13 category_873 category_734 category_128 portal_63 item_type_2 month_year_09_2026

Periodic Solute Segregation Weakens Chemically Stabilized Grain Boundaries Xiande Ma (2172703) Hongbo Xie (3233013) Benfu Wang (23360236) Weixin Lou (9410128) Shanshan Li (114847) Yiping Lu (5731205) Biophysics Biochemistry Physical Sciences not elsewhere classified Genetics Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Hematology shear simulations show redirecting stress relaxation mechanically weak pathway like structural rearrangement energy calculations show atomistic modeling identify 12 ̅ 10 load remains unclear voronoi analysis tilt gb resolution haadf premature grain periodically nd necessarily translate mechanical strengthening mechanical resistance intrinsic direction gbs ), engineered interfaces designing solute dependent modes decorated asymmetric core sites common expectation chemical stabilization Solute segregation can chemically stabilize grain boundaries (GBs), but whether such interfaces remain mechanically robust under load remains unclear. Here, atomic-resolution HAADF-STEM and atomistic modeling identify a periodically Nd-decorated asymmetric [12̅10] tilt GB in a deformed Mg–Nd alloy. Voronoi analysis and segregation-energy calculations show that Nd occupies distorted boundary-core sites and reduces local interfacial strain energy. Contrary to the common expectation that rare-earth segregation strengthens magnesium interfaces, shear simulations show that periodic Nd segregation substantially reduces the mechanical resistance of this boundary. Under loading, the segregated regions undergo amorphization-like structural rearrangement, redirecting stress relaxation from the intrinsic direction-dependent modes of the pure boundaryinterfacial twinning or localized interfacial dislocation activityto premature grain-boundary sliding. Thus, an energetically favorable segregated interface can become a mechanically weak pathway, demonstrating that chemical stabilization does not necessarily translate into mechanical strengthening and that load-induced deformation pathways must be considered when designing solute-engineered interfaces. 2026-09-20T00:00:00Z Dataset Media 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6c03381.s005 https://figshare.com/articles/media/Periodic_Solute_Segregation_Weakens_Chemically_Stabilized_Grain_Boundaries/33945365 CC BY-NC 4.0