Nano-icosahedral quasicrystalline phase formation from a supercooled liquid state in Zr–Fe–Ni ternary metallic glass

Abstract

It was found that an icosahedral quasicrystalline phase was formed as a primary precipitation phase from the supercooled liquid region of the melt-spun Zr70Fe20Ni10 ternary metallic glass. The precipitation of an icosahedral phase takes place at 673 K at the heating rate of 0.67 K s−1. The precipitated icosahedral particle has a nearly spherical morphology and a fine grain size in the diameter range of 5–10 nm. The second crystallization reaction proceeds through a broad exothermic peak and results in the formation of Zr2Ni and Zr2Fe phases. The formation of nanoscale icosahedral phase by the addition of Fe as well as noble metals such as Pd, Au, and Pt indicates the possibility of existence of an icosahedral short-range order in the various Zr-based metallic glasses.