Large-scale synthesis of Al–Cu–Fe submicron quasicrystals

Al–Cu–Fe alloy with a nominal composition of Al62Cu25.5Fe12.5 (at.%) has been fabricated by a combination of pressure-assisted self-propagating high-temperature synthesis and rapid solidification. The as-synthesized Al–Cu–Fe alloy mainly consists of icosahedral quasicrystalline (IQC) ψ-Al65Cu20Fe15 and cubic β-Al (Cu, Fe) solid solution phases, and exhibits finely equiaxed grains with a size ranging from 50 to 200 nm. The mechanism for the formation of the ultrafine-grained IQC phase has been explained.