On the kinetics of TiAl3 intermetallic layer formation in the titanium and aluminum diffusion couple

► Titanium and aluminum sheets in form of a tri-layer sandwich as a diffusion couple. ► Annealing the specimens to temperatures between 550 and 650 °C and holding. ► TiAl3, the only intermetallic phase which was observed at the Ti-Al interface. ► Observations indicating aluminum as the dominant diffusing component through TiAl3. ► Activation energy of 76.8 kJ mol−1 for diffusion-controlled growth of TiAl3 layer.