Formation of nanophases in a Cu–Zn alloy under high current density electropulsing

The microstructure of samples before and after a high current density electropulsing treatment was characterized by using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. It has been found that in the coarse-grained Cu–Zn alloy subjected to the electropulsing treatment, two nanophases were formed, α–Cu(Zn) and β′–(CuZn), the average grain size of which is about 11 nm. A possible mechanism for the formation of nanophases was proposed. The experimental results indicated that electropulsing, as an instantaneous high-energy input, plays an important role in the nonequilibrium microstructural changes in materials and serves as a potential processing approach to synthesize nanostructured materials.