Formation of hierarchically structured martensites in pure iron with ultrahigh strength and stiffness

Strong steels are primarily fabricated by introducing spatial obstacles (e.g., stacking faults and precipitates) that inhibit dislocation slips under stress to achieve high strength. However, for most low-carbon steels, such obstacles are difficult to form mainly because the martensitic transition is kinetically unfavorable by conventional methods, which precludes the attainment of high-strength materials in these steels with low solute contents. Here, we report an innovative high-pressure preparation of martensitic pure Fe with involving nano-effect, which leads to the formation of ultrastrong bulk iron with exceptionally high yield strength, ultimate strength, and hardness of 2.9 GPa, 3.7 GPa, and 9.0 GPa, respectively, exceeding those of high-speed steels. Such extraordinary mechanical properties are closely attributed to its high-density martensites with unique multiscale hierarchical structures formed due to complex phase transitions under pressure.