Extreme rejuvenation and superior stability in a metallic glass

Abstract

Rejuvenation, represented by energy recovery, can markedly improve properties such as plastic deformability and catalytic activity of glassy materials. However, owing to the metastability and rapid atomic mobility, rejuvenated glasses tend to relax and a highly rejuvenated state can hardly be achieved, much less persist steadily against various external perturbations. Here, we show that mechanical milling (MM) is a simple and efficient method for continuously rejuvenating the metallic glass (MG) powders to such a high-energy state that is equivalent to a glassy state attained by quenching at a cooling rate of 109~1010 K s−1. Surprisingly, such a highly rejuvenated MG state can steadily maintain against long-time extended milling and dozens of days aging. The achieved stable and extreme rejuvenation state is attributed to the unique nanoglass-like structure generated by repeated fragmentation and adhesion between powder particles. This work would be helpful for understanding the metastable characteristics of MGs and exploring stable and high-energy glassy materials with unique and tunable properties.