Synthesis of single-phase Al–Cu–Fe quasicrystals using high-energy ball-milling

Due to their unique combination of physical, thermal and mechanical properties, aluminium-based quasicrystals are of great interest for many applications such as low friction hard coatings. Nevertheless, as quasicrystalline phases are usually stable only within narrow composition domains, their production on an industrial scale meets some difficulties.Alloys with nominal composition Al67Cu23Fe10 were prepared by high-energy ball-milling of elemental powders. The as-milled powder specimens consist of a nanocrystalline Al(Cu,Fe) solid solution. The structural phase transitions of the ball-milled Al–Cu–Fe nanopowders during constant rate heating were investigated by in situ X-ray diffraction at the B2 beamline at desy-hasylab (Hamburg, Germany). High-quality single-phase quasicrystalline (QC) powders were obtained from nanocrystalline precursors by slow heating to temperatures above 750 °C. The QC phase is preserved upon quenching and is stable during subsequent heating runs up to 800 °C.