The article “Synthesis of High Entropy Alloy Nanoparticles by Pulsed Laser Ablation in Liquids: Influence of Target Preparation on Stoichiometry and Productivity” ranks among the ten most cited papers published in 2024 in the journal ChemNanoMat. The work involved a team led by Nadezhda Bulgakova, now based in the Division of Optics, in collaboration with the University of Wuppertal. This recognition highlights the strong scientific impact of the study and its relevance for further research in advanced materials and nanotechnology.
The paper focuses on the preparation of nanoparticles from the CoCrFeMnNi alloy, which belongs to the class of so-called high entropy alloys, and explores how to achieve stable composition and structure. The authors employ pulsed laser ablation in liquids (PLAL), a method that enables nanoparticle synthesis without the use of chemical additives, and compare three different approaches to preparing the source material (pressing of elemental powders, mechanical milling followed by sintering, and preparation of a single-crystal alloy). They show that all approaches can produce particles with near-equiatomic composition, although differences appear in their internal structure and production efficiency. The results also demonstrate that simpler and more cost-effective material preparation can deliver very good outcomes, which is important for the practical use of these nanoparticles, for example in catalysis, energy applications, and other areas where material composition and structure play a key role.
The research from which this article originated was initiated at the HiLASE Centre and is now continuing within the Division of Optics, where the team further develops methods for nanoparticle synthesis and studies their properties for advanced applications.