Multi-principal element grain boundaries: Stabilizing nanocrystalline grains with thick amorphous complexions

Grigorian, Charlette M.; Rupert, Timothy J.

doi:10.1557/s43578-021-00459-0

Multi-principal element grain boundaries: Stabilizing nanocrystalline grains with thick amorphous complexions

Journal Article · Sun Jan 16 00:00:00 EST 2022 · Journal of Materials Research

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1557/s43578-021-00459-0· OSTI ID:1886291

Grigorian, Charlette M. ^[1]; Rupert, Timothy J. ^[2]

Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States); University of California, Irvine
Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States)

Amorphous complexions have recently been demonstrated to simultaneously enhance the ductility and stability of certain nanocrystalline alloys. In this study, three quinary alloys (Cu–Zr–Hf–Mo–Nb, Cu–Zr–Hf–Nb–Ti, and Cu–Zr–Hf–Mo–W) are studied to test the hypothesis that increasing the chemical complexity of the grain boundaries will result in thicker amorphous complexions and further stabilize a nanocrystalline microstructure. Significant boundary segregation of Zr, Nb, and Ti is observed in the Cu–Zr–Hf–Nb–Ti alloy, which creates a quaternary interfacial composition that limits average grain size to 63 nm even after 1 week at ~ 97% of the melting temperature. This high level of thermal stability is attributed to the complex grain boundary chemistry and amorphous structure resulting from multi-component segregation. Furthermore, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals that the increased chemical complexity of the grain boundary region in the Cu–Zr–Hf–Nb–Ti alloy results in an average amorphous complexion thickness of 2.44 nm, approximately 44% and 32% thicker than amorphous complexions previously observed in Cu–Zr and Cu–Zr–Hf alloys.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation Center for Chemistry at the Space-Time Limit; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0021224

OSTI ID:: 1886291

Journal Information:: Journal of Materials Research, Journal Name: Journal of Materials Research Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 37; ISSN 0884-2914

Publisher:: Springer NatureCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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