Metals have a wide range of properties. Combining them opens up new prospects for many future technologies, but some metals have been immiscible until now. At the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), chemistry professor Claus Feldmann uses metallic nanoparticles as intermediates for developing novel alloys. The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding Feldmann’s work with EUR 750,000 over five years as part of its Reinhart Koselleck program for highly innovative projects that involve some degree of risk.
“In many cutting-edge technologies, key components rely on metallic materials, for example in the energy, electronics, automotive, and aerospace industries,” said Professor Oliver Kraft, KIT’s Vice President Academic Affairs. “With his research on nanoparticles, Claus Feldmann is laying the foundations for completely new alloys. We take pride in having this outstanding scientist among our ranks and extend our heartfelt congratulations to him on securing a Reinhart Koselleck project, the best-endowed excellence grant awarded to individual researchers by the DFG.”
Professor Claus Feldmann, a research group leader at KIT’s Institute for Inorganic Chemistry, heads a project that investigates how nanoparticles can serve as “shuttles” for alloying immiscible base metals. In other words, he uses nanoparticles as intermediates to bring together metals that could not previously be mixed. Of all known chemical elements, 80% are metals. They are characterized by high electrical and thermal conductivity, malleability, and a metallic sheen. Apart from that, they have different, sometimes even contrasting properties. Combining such metals could enable the development of new high-performance materials in the future.
Reaction Speed Outpaces Nanoparticles
Some metals, however, are immiscible in the solid state and do not form thermodynamically stable alloys. “For example, light metals are lightweight, soft, and highly reactive. Hard metals, on the other hand, are hard, have a high melting point, and are relatively inert. Combining these properties opens up interesting prospects, but has often been impossible so far,” said Feldmann. Using nanoparticles of the metals, Feldmann and his team are working to kinetically induce a desired statistical distribution of metal atoms in the nanoparticles through rapid reduction in the liquid phase near room temperature. “This chemical reaction takes less than a second, which is too short for the nanoparticles to separate from each other again,” said Feldmann. “This process yields equal proportions and a uniform distribution of both metals in the mixture.”
In initial experiments with nanoparticles of various metals, the research group has already paved the way for alloys that were previously impossible. The properties of these alloys can differ significantly from those of their source metals, for example in terms of reactivity, crystallization, and thermal behavior.
New Alloys with Unusual Properties
In addition to the fundamental question of how alloys of previously immiscible base metals can be created by using nanoparticles as “shuttles,” Feldmann is also investigating the prospect of developing entirely new alloys with unusual properties. This could, for example, drive the advancement of metallic glasses, catalysts, and high-entropy materials composed of five or more elements. The DFG is funding the Reinhart Koselleck project with EUR 750,000 over five years. The project start is scheduled for June 1, 2026.
Reinhart Koselleck Projects
The DFG awards Reinhart Koselleck projects to support researchers who have demonstrated outstanding scientific excellence, enabling them to realize exceptionally innovative, higher-risk projects with major potential benefits. This grant, named after one of the most prominent German historians of the 20th century, is scheduled to run for five years.