Microstructure, which is the nature, quantity and distribution of structural elements or phases that make up materials, determines the properties of materials. Understanding microstructure–properties relationships is critical for the design of materials. With the increase of demand and investment in new materials around the globe, there has been a great deal of interest in the exploration and manipulation of microstructure in materials science and engineering.


The journal of Microstructures publishes peer-reviewed articles that present a full spectrum of research topics in microstructure-oriented research and development. Papers involve all aspects of microstructures, including the design, fabrication, modelling, characterization, testing, and evaluation of the end-user-oriented applications, from the microscale to the atomic scale. Contents are written at a general level aiming at a broad audience. The journal publishes articles covering new research and developments, perspectives, and reviews related to the microstructures of materials, including, but not limited to metals and alloys, ceramics, polymers, composites, crystals, glasses, biomaterials, interfaces and nanomaterials.

Microstructures serves the interdisciplinary community of physicists, chemists, engineers, biologists, and engineers in related disciplines, delivering high-quality, original research focusing on design–fabrication–microstructure–property–application relationships in materials.


The journal provides scientists and engineers with cutting-edge information on topics that are closely linked to microstructures of all types of materials. These include but are not limited to:
• Microstructure characterization

• Microstructural evolution under external stimulations

• Synthesis/processing–microstructure–properties relationships

• Prediction and design of microstructures

• Computational modelling of microstructure and its relationships with processing condition and properties

• Multifunction and emerging coupling phenomena in microstructures

• Applications of structure-manipulated materials

• Advances in microstructure characterization techniques