A young scientist and Senior Research Fellow from the SUSU Laboratory for High-entropy Materials Majid Naseri is 36. However, the articles, where he acts as a co-author, are nearly every month published in the world's major scientific journals, such as Journal of Alloys and Compounds, or Intermetallics. He is working on the problem of creating high-entropy alloys. These are the alloys based on five or more metals, each of which adds to specific properties. And for his research he also uses some "top-notch" mathematics: automata theory, modern geometry, and fuzzy logic. His Scopus Hirsch index is 15, which means that at least 15 of his works have been cited, and each in no less than 15 sources. Very impressive for a young scientist! The results of his research are in the process of being implemented not only in Russia, but also in Iran and Kazakhstan.
– How did you settle in Russia? Why did you choose this country?
– I was born in northern Iran. I obtained my Bachelor's degree in Metallurgy at Isfahan University of Technology (IUT), my Master's degree in Semnan, and my academic title in Shahid Chamran University in the city of Ahvaz.
To develop the dissertation results, while the trail is still hot, right after the defence scientists enrol in postdoc programs. I chose such program in Seoul and worked in South Korea for several years. I might have continued to work there since I liked it in Asia, but the pandemic trampled my plans. I tried to resume my research in China, but the pandemic barriers were raised there as well. Having returned to Iran, I was thinking of looking for a vacancy when suddenly saw an e-mail from SUSU in my mailbox. I was invited to work in Chelyabinsk in the Urals.
In autumn of 2022 together with my wife we moved to Russia, and now I am a Senior Research Fellow at SUSU. Right in that period of time the Laboratory for High-entropy Materials was being formed, and I became its staff member.
By the way, many students from my home country, Iran, come to Russia to complete their education and defend their dissertations. Persian families do not normally approve of their young people going to faraway western countries – they prefer the neighbouring ones instead: Qatar, Russia, Azerbaijan, or the Arab Emirates. Unfortunately, schools in Iran do not teach the Russian language, so you have to learn it here upon your arrival.
– What innovative materials do you create and study?
– My research interests include high-entropy alloys and coatings. These consist of five or more metals, each of which preserves its mechanical, chemical, electrical and corrosion-resisting properties. Among such metals, for instance, are iron, aluminium, manganese, nickel, cobalt, chromium, molybdenum, and titanium. In order to achieve the required physical and chemical characteristics of an alloy, you need to take metals in a certain proportion, and it is not that easy to sort it out. Here computer modelling comes to our aid as it allows to create new classes of materials.
My task is to study the nanostructures of high-entropy alloys, as well as their deformation during metal working and the alloys' resistance to corrosion.
My research advisor suggested that I focus on creating nanostructured high-entropy alloys, which will then be exposed to severe plastic deformation (SPD). The use of this technique has been studied as applied, for instance, to aluminium titanium alloys; we need to consolidate the results for alloys made of 4–5 and more components.
– Do you receive grants support for you work?
– We do. Our team received a grant from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia within the frameworks of collaboration with research institutions from Kazakhstan. The project's goal is to create and promote nanostructured high-entropy alloys as innovative production materials for the Russian industry. The question is in which proportion we should take the elements for an alloy so that we could produce useful properties. The grant is managed by Professor Marina Samodurova. Also, we work under a grant from the Russian Science Foundation. A task was set for me to create an alloy that would first of all be cheap. What can be expensive in a multi-component alloy? Chromium, tantalum, titanium, and especially cobalt and niobium. And what can be relatively cheap? Iron, aluminium, and nickel. We have focused on an alloy that contains no more than 75% of total iron and nickel, 15% of chromium, 10% manganese, and also a small portion of niobium completing the composition to 100%. That is if the iron and nickel content is 65%, niobium would respectively equal 10%.
In the process of metal working using the methods of severe plastic deformation we resort to help of our colleagues from the Department of Building Materials and Products Aleksandr Orlov and Alena Miasnikova, who are my co-authors.
At the nanolevel we observe the metal texture, for example, the orientation of grains. How can one determine the orientation? Let's assume that a grain is a cube, which can be rotated. Initially, grains are randomly oriented, and during rolling they make a turn in one direction. Grains change their shape during forming as well. In case of forging grains diminish in size (while during rolling they collapse and only get thinner).
Grain orientation allows to predict not only mechanical, but also, for instance, electromagnetic properties of metals.
– What are your research plans for the nearest future?
– We intend to focus on the mechanical properties of alloys and achieve high hardness and resistance to wear. Next, we need to achieve properties of resistance to corrosion, including in aggressive mediums (acids, high temperatures).
Here we will need to create a framework of a new science: how we should evaluate these properties, and how we should perform the laboratory experiments. We are only at the stage of accumulating the experience of working in this direction.
Modelling is also followed by experiments, which we conduct at our laboratory. During the experiments related to corrosion we collaborate with our colleague from Chelyabinsk State University Svetlana Pratskova. We need to repeat the experiments multiple times in order to feel confident about their results.
– Is it beneficial for a metal scientist to work in Russia?
– Today, Russia is a place where it is possible to close the distance between laboratory development of a technology and its implementation in industry fairly quickly. The government here is interested in development of innovative materials. The President of Russia Vladimir Putin also speaks about it. Chelyabinsk offers even more prospects since besides the scientific foundation and a wonderful team there are many potential customer enterprises in pipe-rolling production and mechanical engineering.
I presented these developments at a conference in my alma mater – the university in Ahvaz, Iran, where I had defended my dissertation. And there my report sparked great interest: the attendees noted that the material is quite cheap. So, it is possible that the obtained results could also be useful for my home country as well.