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    Resolving Elementary Steps of Vapor-Phase Dealloying via In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy

    Xinyao Wang1, Yanying Li1, Yuqiao Zeng2, Yanyue Wang3, Mingwei Chen4, Qing Chen5,*, and Pan Liu1,3,†

    • 1Shanghai Key Laboratory of Hydrogen Science and Center of Hydrogen Science, State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People’s Republic of China
    • 2Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallic Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, People’s Republic of China
    • 3Shanghai Jiao Tong University - JA Solar New Energy Materials Joint Research Center, Shanghai 200240, People’s Republic of China
    • 4Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, People’s Republic of China
    • 5Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Department of Chemistry, and The Energy Institute, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    • *Contact author: chenqing@ust.hk
    • †Contact author: panliu@sjtu.edu.cn
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    Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 156201 – Published 6 October, 2025

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/22l6-jmw7

    Abstract

    Nanopores evolve in dealloying to dictate alloy corrosion while enabling the creation of functional metallic nanomaterials. Yet, the nanoscale dynamics of the porosity evolution have long eluded experimental characterizations. With aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy, we reveal the evolution of nanoporous Co from the vapor phase dealloying (VPD) of γ-CoZn across scales. The in situ characterization confirms key aspects of the dealloying mechanism based on macroscopic characterizations and simulations, including dissolution by repeated step flow and vacancy-cluster nucleation as well as ligament and pore bifurcation. It also separates the step flow kinetics from that of VPD, revealing that a bond energy difference between the alloy constituents can determine the dealloying kinetics and affect the morphology. The findings refine the classic dealloying theory for potentially new fabrications.

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    Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 156201– Published 6 October, 2025
    • Received 17 January 2025
    • Revised 13 August 2025
    • Accepted 10 September 2025
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