Materials play an important role in the fast breeder reactors. Materials used in cladding tube and fuel pins should have better creep and void swelling resistance. To overcome these difficulties, a new class of material known as oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels are used. There are two groups of ODS steels, the ferritic and the austenitic ODS steels based on the matrix. The present paper reviews the current status of research in austenitic ODS steels. The interaction of dislocations with finely dispersed incoherent, hard particles that governs the strength and high temperature properties of ODS materials is briefly reviewed. The synthesis route adopted for these ODS steels, which is mostly through powder metallurgy route is also discussed. The role of various oxides such as Y2O3, ZrO2and TiO2and the clusters formed in these ODS steels on the mechanical properties and void swelling characteristics is also discussed.
Thermoelectric (TE) materials play a crucial role in converting energy between heat and electricity, essentially for environmentally friendly renewable energy conversion technologies aimed at addressing the global energy crisis. Significant advances in TE performance have been achieved over the past decades in various TE materials through key approaches, such as nanostructuring, band engineering, and high-entropy engineering. Among them, the design of high-entropy materials has recently emerged as a forefront strategy to achieve significantly low thermal conductivity, attributed to severe lattice distortion and microstructure effects, thereby enhancing the materials’ figure of merit (zT). This review reveals the progress of high-entropy TE materials developed in the past decade. It discusses high-entropy-driven structural stabilization to maintain favorable electrical transport properties, achieving low lattice thermal conductivity, and the impact of high entropy on mechanical properties. Furthermore, the review explores the theoretical development of high-entropy TE material and discusses potential strategies for future advancements in this field through interactions among experimental and theoretical studies.