Abstract
Pressure-induced structural changes in metallic glasses have been of great interest as they are expected to open new ways to synthesize novel materials with unexpected properties. Here, we investigated the effect of simultaneous high-pressure and high-temperature treatment on the structure and properties of a Zr50Cu40Al10 metallic glass by in situ X-ray structure measurement and property analysis of the final material. We found the unusual formation of Cu-rich nanocrystals at high pressure and temperature, accompanied by significant strength and hardness enhancement. Based on reverse Monte Carlo modeling and molecular dynamics simulations, the structure of the metallic glass changed to a densely packed, chemically uniform configuration with high short-range and medium-range ordering at high pressure and temperature. These results show that high-pressure annealing processes provide a new way to improve and control properties without changing their composition.
Highlights
Pressure-induced structural changes in metallic glasses have been of great interest as they are expected to open new ways to synthesize novel materials with unexpected properties
The polyamorphic transition of the lanthanide-based Metallic glasses (MGs) induced by room-temperature compression is a reversible process[9] and the high-pressure structure formed after the polyamorphic transition is unquenchable to the ambient-pressure condition
Dmowski et al.[14] proposed that liquid-to-liquid transition occurs in Zr-based MGs, when they are heated to the supercooled liquid state under high-pressure conditions (~4–8 GPa)
Summary
Pressure-induced structural changes in metallic glasses have been of great interest as they are expected to open new ways to synthesize novel materials with unexpected properties. Based on reverse Monte Carlo modeling and molecular dynamics simulations, the structure of the metallic glass changed to a densely packed, chemically uniform configuration with high short-range and medium-range ordering at high pressure and temperature. These results show that high-pressure annealing processes provide a new way to improve and control properties without changing their composition. The discovery of the quenchable high-pressure and high-temperature amorphous structure in Zr-based MGs is expected to open a new way to synthesize new MG materials, with unexpected structural and physical properties. Previous high-pressure and hightemperature studies suggest that high-pressure annealing provides potential for producing a new type of BMGs with exceptional mechanical properties, which cannot otherwise be achieved by conventional synthesis methods at an ambient pressure
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