Structural transformations in (CoFeNi)/Ti nanocomposite systems during prolonged heating

A complex CoFeNi/Ti nanocomposite system with an average grain size of about 8 nm was fabricated on a Ti sheet under ball collisions. Heating experiments were performed at 400, 500, and 600 °C with hold times of up to 100 h at each temperature. The as-fabricated (CoFeNi)/Ti nanocomposite system demonstrated high thermal stability upon heating to 400 and 500 °C. Growth of the CoFeNi phases was retarded by closely spaced Ti particles. After heating to 600 °C, the system exhibited a bimodal nanograin structure due to coursing of the body-centered cubic (bcc) CoFeNi grains, which occurred more rapidly than with the face-centered cubic (fcc) CoFeNi grains. Upon heating, the diffusion that occurred between the phases tended to equilibrate the composition. Pairwise atomic interactions between the Co, Fe, and Ni components arose as chemical interactions in the corresponding binary alloy. The diffusive flux of elements in the system was outlined as Co from the fcc phase diffused into the bcc phase, Ni from the bcc phase diffused into the fcc phase, and Fe from the fcc phase diffused into the bcc phase. The activation energy for the reaction was calculated using time dependence curves of saturation magnetization. The activation energy coincided very closely with the value for the grain boundary diffusion activation energy for the Co, Fe, and Ni binary systems.