The effects of microstructure change on the corrosion behaviours of Ni55Nb20Ti10Zr8Co7 bulk glass-forming alloy were investigated in 1 mol/L HCl and 0.5 mol/L H2SO4 solutions. Different microstructures of the Ni-based alloy were achieved by annealing the bulk glassy rod prepared by copper mould casting. The microstructure, grain size, grain distribution, and phase composition were characterized. Electrochemical behaviours of the Ni-based alloy were revealed by static immersion and anodic potentiodynamic polarization tests. It is indicated that the corrosion behaviours of the Ni-based bulk glass-forming alloy are related to its microstructures, while the fully crystallized alloy exhibits a relatively lower corrosion resistance than those of the amorphous states.
Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) with large supercooled liquid region are promising materials for superplastic forming. In this paper, we demonstrate a microstructure-based strategy to pinpoint the composition with the largest supercooled liquid region in La 86 x Al 14 Cu x (x=16 at%-20 at%) metallic glass system. By monitoring the changes in crystallization behavior of the glassy alloys with composition to search for the alloys exhibiting eutectic crystallization, the glassy alloys with the largest supercooled liquid region in the given alloy system can be found. The metallic glasses with Cu contents of 16 at%-19 at% exhibited two crystallization peaks, and the primary crystallization product was identified to be α-La by means of DSC, XRD and TEM. The increase in Cu content resulted in the decay of the primary crystallization peak and the increase in onset temperature of crystallization, leading to the enlargement of supercooled liquid region. By further suppressing the α-La primary crystallization with increasing Cu content up to 20 at%, the eutectic crystallization of α-La and LaCu 13 through one crystallization reaction occurred upon heating, where the largest supercooled liquid region of 65 K for La 66 Al 14 Cu 20 glassy alloy was located. This study indicats that, in a given glassy alloy system, a larger supercooled liquid region can be achieved by optimizing the alloy compositions to suppress the primary crystallization.
Ni-and Cu-free Zr-Al-Co-Nb glassy alloys with different Nb and Co contents were synthesized by melt spinning and copper mold casting.The effects of Nb addition to partially replace Co in the Zr55Al20Co25 glassy alloy on the glass-forming ability,thermal properties,in-vitro biocorrosion behavior and surface wettability of the metallic glasses were investigated.Although addition of Nb up to 5 at.% slightly decreased the supercooled liquid region and the glass-forming ability(GFA),the alloys could be casted in a bulk glassy rod form with diameters up to 3mm.The Zr-Al-Co-Nb glassy alloys were spontaneously passivated with low passive current densities in phosphate buffered saline and Hanks' solution.Substitution of "toxic" Co by Nb is effective in improved the corrosion resistance of the Zr-Al-Co glassy alloy.Water contact angle measurements showed that Nb addition increased the hydrophilicity of the glassy alloys,which may enhance cell adhesion of the alloys in biomedical applications.
