New Mg-based alloy obtained by mechanical alloying in the Mg–Ni–Ge system

Abstract

The mechanical alloying (MA) of the 2Mg–0.5Ni–0.5Ge mixture at room temperature under argon atmosphere was investigated. The crystal structure, morphology and thermal stability of the products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. A new alloy in the Mg–Ni–Ge system was synthesized by MA of the 2Mg–0.5Ni–0.5Ge mixture and by the combination of MA and subsequent thermal treatment. No evidence of the formation of Ni–Ge compounds was observed. The new ternary alloy can be considered isostructural with Mg 3Ni 2M-type compound, with a F cubic cell and a lattice parameter a=11.521 Å. Thermal studies show that the Mg–Ge–Ni alloy is stable upon heating up to 500 °C.