What has been impossible has now been shown to be possible - an alloy between two incompatible elements. The findings are being published in this week's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, USA. A research team led by Professor H.K. Mao from Carnegie Institution of Washington and Professor Rajeev Ahuja from UU have used high pressure experiments and theoretical calculations to study the behaviour of Ce3Al under high pressure.
"We were surprised to find that Cerium and Aluminium formed a so called substitutional alloy under high pressure. Forming these alloys has been limited to elements close in atomic radii and electronegativity up until now" - Professor Rajeev Ahuja of Uppsala University.