Amorphous Zr-based thin films fabricated by magnetron sputtering for potential application in hydrogen purification

•Zr-based amorphous thin films were successfully fabricated by Magnetron sputtering.•Thermal stability of these alloys seems to be unaffected by the fabrication method.•Different levels of amorphicity in this films are suggested.•The deposited alloys seem to crystallise differently compared to melt-spun alloys.

Amorphous hydrogen separation membranes are under development because of their resistance to hydrogen embrittlement, improved mechanical properties, resistance to corrosion and most importantly lower intrinsic cost. The Closed Field Unbalanced Magnetron Sputter Ion Plating (CFUBMSIP) is a versatile technique for deposition of high quality thin-films of almost any composition, while enabling the control of film size, thickness and shape. In this work, it was demonstrated that thin-films (∼3–6 μm) of amorphous Zr40.5Ni59.5, Zr54Cu46 and Zr30Cu57.5Y12.5 could be deposited onto glass substrates by the CFUBMSIP technique. XRD measurements only showed one broad peak for each alloy, with a peak centred between 36° and 42° 2θ, indicating that the films were amorphous. Surface analysis by SEM and confocal microscopy suggest deposition of continuous films. The thermal stability of the films appears to be mainly governed by the alloying elements and their compositions. However, the measured activation energies indicated that the nucleation and growth mechanism in the magnetron sputtered films may be different from that reported for melt-spun amorphous alloys with similar compositions.