Materials Science Forum, Vol.413, 65-69, 2003
Nanocrystallization and hydrogenation of amorphous Zr-Al-Cu alloys
Zr-Ni-Cu-Al is not only one of the best glass forming system, but exhibits also excellent hydrogen absorption properties. In order to understand this behavior more clearly, the properties of closely related ternary systems are of great interest. Only very recently, the hydrogen absorption from the gas phase of Zr-Ni-Al amorphous alloys has been studied in detail by Inoue et al. [I]. Glassy Zr-Cu-Al was prepared by melt spinning. It exhibits a very reasonable thermal stability as observed by DSC. Around 450degreesC, nanocrystallization was observed to lead to an extreme microstructure with a mean grain size of 5 rim. Coarsening and transformation into the stable crystalline phase proceed during further annealing. The kinetics of crystallization was studied by DSC. The influence of hydrogenation on thermal stability and nanocrystallization was studied in detail.