Thermoplastic Forming of a Hydrophilic Surface with a Nanostructure Array on Zr-Cu-Ni-Al-Y Bulk Metallic Glass

Sirui Cheng,Feng Gong,Jiang Ma,Jun Shen

doi:10.3390/met11101520

Abstract

The poor thermoplastic formability of reactive Zr-based bulk metallic glass becomes the main limiting factor for replacing the noble-metal-based and Be-rich bulk metallic glasses in nanostructure fabrication. In our work, a (Zr50.7Cu28Ni9Al12.3)98.5Y1.5 bulk metallic glass with good thermoplastic formability has been developed by alloying, where Y addition enlarges the processing window and decreases the viscous resistance of supercooled liquid caused by the high free volume density. The prepared Zr-Cu-Ni-Al-Y bulk metallic glass nanostructure retains the amorphous characteristic and generates the complex oxidization products in the surface layer. The enhanced hydrophilicity of the as-embossed surface follows a Wenzel-impregnating wetting regime, and it can be attributed to the large roughness coefficient induced by the capillary effect. This study provides a low-cost and environmentally friendly bulk metallic glass system to manufacture the nanostructure with a broad prospect in the field of electrocatalysis.

Highlights

Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are considered potential catalysts because of their good mechanical properties, outstanding stability in corrosive media and relatively high reaction activity that results from their unique metastable microstructures [1,2,3,4]
The 1 mm aper copper mold to obtain rods withdiameters diametersof of55mm, mm, as as shown shown in thick specimens cut from these rods were polished and stacked on the 1 mm thick specimens cut from these BMG rods were polished and stacked on the top top of of the anodized (AAO) templates templateswith with
BMG will entirely change to supercooled liquid and obtain the relatively loose atomic arrangement at the temperature corresponding to the end of glass transition (Tend ), causing the activated atoms to jump into the adjacent free volume

Summary

Introduction

Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are considered potential catalysts because of their good mechanical properties, outstanding stability in corrosive media and relatively high reaction activity that results from their unique metastable microstructures [1,2,3,4]. The fabrication of BMG components with nanostructures, which can significantly increase the high specific surface area, has attracted considerable interest in the fields of fuel cells and electrochemistry to improve catalytic performance [7,8]. The BMG systems usually utilized in the fabrication of nanostructures and electrocatalysis research primarily consist of Pt-based and Pd-based BMGs because of their outstanding thermoplastic formability and oxidation resistance [9,10,11,12]. Developing new economical and environmentally friendly BMGs and the corresponding thermoplastic forming (TPF)

Methods

Results

Conclusion