Formation of nanocrystals in metallic Zr-Cu-Ni glass

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are employed to investigate the crystallization behavior in metallic Zr70Cu20Ni10 glass during continuous heating. It is found that the DSC curves of metallic Zr70Cu20Ni10 glass exhibit two exothermic peaks, indicating that the crystallization process proceeds via a double stage mode. TEM microstructural analysis confirms that the first exothermic reaction in the DSC traces of metallic Zr70Cu20Ni10 glass mainly corresponds to the precipitation of the Zr2Cu phase, while the second one corresponds to the formation of nano-scale Zr2Ni particles. Ni plays an important role in the stability of the nanocrystals, and its effect is also discussed