University of Miami researchers led by Associate Professor Giacomo Po are investigating high‑entropy alloys — metals made from five or more principal elements — as potential materials for fusion reactors. Po’s team simulates extreme heat and radiation conditions and studies irradiation creep to evaluate alloy durability. While fusion offers the promise of abundant, low‑carbon power, challenges remain including high costs, reactor stability and radioactive activation. Advances in materials science are essential to improving reactor lifetimes and moving fusion closer to commercial reality.
Researchers Advance Fusion Materials: High‑Entropy Alloys Show Promise for Reactor Components
Researchers at the University of Miami are exploring a new class of metals known as high‑entropy alloys (HEAs) as candidate materials for future fusion reactors. Associate Professor Giacomo Po and his team are testing how these complex alloys respond to the extreme heat, radiation and mechanical stresses expected in fusion environments, with the aim of improving component lifetimes and reactor safety.
What Are High‑Entropy Alloys?
High‑entropy alloys are metallic materials composed of roughly equal proportions of five or more principal elements. Unlike traditional alloys that have one dominant element, HEAs derive unusual mechanical and thermal properties from their multi‑element mix. They are valued for strength, hardness, corrosion resistance and improved performance at high temperatures — traits that could be essential for parts facing plasma and neutron bombardment in a fusion reactor.
Po's Experiments and Findings
Po has pushed laboratory tests to simulate the extreme conditions materials would face inside a fusion device. His work includes exposing HEAs to intense heat and radiation simulations and studying irradiation creep — the gradual deformation materials can undergo when simultaneously subjected to stress and radiation over time. While plasma core temperatures reach tens of millions of degrees, Po’s experiments focus on the conditions experienced by structural and first‑wall components, using surrogate tests and modeling to assess alloy resilience.
"Fusion power is the holy grail — a dream that scientists have been chasing for decades,"
Po told the University of Miami newsroom, underscoring the long‑term potential of fusion if its materials challenges can be overcome.
Why Materials Matter
Even if the physics of fusion become practical, durable materials are critical to building reliable, cost‑effective reactors. Better alloys could reduce maintenance downtime, limit radioactive activation of structural parts, and improve safety margins. Po’s mapping of which elemental combinations resist heat, swelling and deformation helps point the way to alloys that could extend component life and lower operating costs.
Remaining Challenges
Fusion is widely seen as a potential source of abundant, low‑carbon energy, but significant hurdles remain: large upfront capital costs, engineering challenges in keeping reactors stable, and management of any radioactive waste from neutron activation. Materials research such as Po’s addresses one of the central technical bottlenecks, but commercialization will require advances across reactor design, fuels, and systems integration.
"Imagine an electric grid powered by a stable, low‑cost, and abundant source of energy that doesn't rely on burning fossil fuels or the intermittency of wind and solar," Po said. "That's the promise of fusion energy."
As researchers refine HEAs and other candidate materials, these advances will be a key step toward making practical fusion power more achievable.
