Fe-Al intermetallic foam with porosity above 60 % prepared by thermal explosion

The high porosity Fe-Al intermetallic foams have been successfully prepared by a simple and energy-saving process of thermal explosion (TE) approach from Fe-40 at.% Al elemental powders. The temperature profile, pore structure, phase composition and element distribution of Fe-Al foam were investigated. Due to the exothermic reaction, the temperature of sample increased rapidly from 637 °C to 981 °C in 9 s interval, which means that an obvious TE appears in the sintering process. The volume expansion of 88% was observed in heated sample, and the Fe-Al foam exhibited an interconnected pore structure with a high open porosity of 61%. XRD patterns showed that TE product contains Fe2Al5 and Fe while FeAl was evolved as dominant phase in final sintered materials. EDS results showed that Fe and Al distributed evenly in the final products.