Work by PPGCEM researchers is published in a scientific journal from the Nature Portfolio
Metals used in advanced applications may combine several elements within a single crystal structure. Even when they appear randomly distributed, atoms can favor certain neighbors, forming chemical short-range order.
In the article “On the nature of chemical short-range order evolution,” published in Nature Communications on July 21, 2026, PhD student Guilherme Cardeal Stumpf, advised by Professor Francisco G. Coury in the High Entropy Alloys Design Group, investigated this phenomenon in collaboration with the MIT group led by Professor Rodrigo Freitas. Calorimetry, in situ synchrotron dilatometry, and atomistic simulations were combined to reveal the thermodynamic nature of the process.
The results indicate that the evolution of chemical complexity in a crystalline phase does not result from a classical thermodynamic transition, but from a kinetic drag phenomenon similar to that observed in the glass transition. The interpretation involved Professor Edgar D. Zanotto, a PPGCEM glass specialist, and indicates that, although the alloy remains crystalline, its chemical organization may become “frozen” and remain in a degenerate state. The work broadens the understanding of the structure and stability of chemically complex alloys and also included Professor Witor Wolf and researchers Yifan Cao, Vinícius Bacurau, and Daniel Miracle.