Nanoquasicrystalline phase formation in binary Zr–Pd and Zr–Pt alloys

Abstract This paper reports nanoquasicrystalline phase formation in Zr 100−x Pd x (x=30 and 35) and Zr 80 Pt 20 binary alloys and the kinetics of the nanoquasicrystallization process. While the icosahedral phase ( i -phase) forms as a metastable phase in the transient stage during the crystallization of Zr–Pd amorphous alloy, it forms directly from the liquid during melt-spinning of Zr–Pt alloy. The isothermal kinetics studies show that i -phase forms from the Zr 70 Pd 30 amorphous alloy by the primary crystallization process with the Avrami exponent in the range of 1.5–2.5. Three-dimensional atom probe analysis results suggest that the i -phase is slightly enriched with Zr with respect to the matrix and its composition is close to Zr 75 Pd 25 . The tendency of quasicrystallization of Zr-based alloys appears to have correlation with the enthalpy of mixing of the system.