Crystallization of melt-spun Mg63Ni22Pr15 amorphous alloy ribbon

The crystallization of melt-spun Mg63Ni22Pr15 amorphous ribbons has been studied. The isochronal differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) measurement shows that the alloy has a certain glass-forming ability (GFA) according to different criterions. The analysis of with Kissinger equation indicates that the activation energy for the primary crystallization is relatively low. Nanocrystalline Mg12Pr and Mg2Ni phases appeared after the primary crystallization. Discussion based on Johnson–Mehl–Avrami (JMA) equation indicates that the isothermal process of primary crystallization starts from small dimensions with an increasing nucleation rate. The further fitting and discussion with some simplified models infers that the increasing nucleation rate is caused by the large difference between diffusivity of Mg atom and that of Ni and Pr atoms.