Multicomponent Grain Boundary Segregation Dilute-Limit Model and Its Effect on Nanocrystalline Stability

Grain boundary segregation of solutes is a powerful tool for stabilizing nanocrystalline materials. However, previous studies developed an approach to calculate stabilization only in binary systems. In this work, we derive a spectral segregation model for an arbitrary number of solutes in the dilute limit (neglecting solute–solute interactions) and demonstrate that multicomponent segregation substantially expands the range of nanocrystalline alloys thermodynamically stable against both grain growth and phase separation.