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Micrometer-sized quasicrystals in the Al85Ni5Y6Co2Fe2 metallic glass: A TEM study and a brief discussion on the formability of quasicrystals in bulk and marginal glass-forming alloys

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Abstract

Large quasicrystals up to ∼10 μm in size with a volume fraction of ∼30% have been identified in a nitrogen gas-atomized marginal glass-forming alloy Al85Ni5Y6Co2Fe2 by detailed transmission electron microscopy. The formation of the large quasicrystal (Q) phase is discussed through the configuration of the valence electrons of its constituent elements, and the thermodynamic and kinetic factors associated with the solidification of this marginal glass-forming alloy during gas atomization. The finding leads to an important inference that marginal glass-forming alloys could be ideal systems for the formation of bulk quasicrystals under appropriate kinetic conditions. The Q phase is stable up to ∼500 °C and decomposes thereafter. The activation energy for the decomposition of the Q phase is similar to the self-diffusion of Al. Two new intermetallic phases associated with the formation and decomposition of the Q phase have also been identified and characterized.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51131006). Dr. M. Yan acknowledges the support of a Queensland Smart Future Fellowship (Early Career). We also acknowledge the technical, sci-entificand financial assistance from the AMMRF. Constructive discussions with Prof. C. Dong and Dr. J.B. Qiang of Dalian Institute of Technology, China and Dr. G. Ji of LILLE 1 University Science and Technology, France are gratefully appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Queensland, School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, ARC Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals, Centre for Advanced Materials Processing and Manufacturing, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    M. Yan, G. B. Schaffer & M. Qian

  2. Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China

    J. Q. Wang

  3. Electron Microscopy Unit, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    C. Kong

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  1. M. Yan
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Correspondence to M. Yan.

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Yan, M., Wang, J.Q., Kong, C. et al. Micrometer-sized quasicrystals in the Al85Ni5Y6Co2Fe2 metallic glass: A TEM study and a brief discussion on the formability of quasicrystals in bulk and marginal glass-forming alloys. Journal of Materials Research 27, 2131–2139 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2012.140

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