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Influence of 1%Nb Solute Addition on the Thermal Stability of In Situ Consolidated Nanocrystalline Cu
Author(s) -
Abaza Mohamed A.,
AlSulaiti Leena,
Scattergood Ronald O.,
Youssef Khaled M.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
advanced engineering materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.938
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1527-2648
pISSN - 1438-1656
DOI - 10.1002/adem.201800859
Subject(s) - nanocrystalline material , materials science , annealing (glass) , grain size , transmission electron microscopy , thermal stability , grain growth , grain boundary , metallurgy , in situ , analytical chemistry (journal) , crystallography , microstructure , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , chemistry , chromatography , engineering , organic chemistry
Nanocrystalline (nc) Cu and Cu–1% Nb bulk materials are synthesized using a combination of cryogenic and room temperature ball milling. The grain size values of these in situ consolidated Cu and Cu–1% Nb, determined using transmission electron microscopy, are found to be 22 nm and 18 nm, respectively. In this investigation, isochronal heat treatments are performed for 1 h to establish grain size and microstructural changes as a function of temperature. The annealing of nc Cu–1% Nb at a temperature of 1073 K reveals a slight increase in the average grain size from 18 to 45 nm. The grain size of nc Cu, however, increases from 22 nm to about 3 μm after annealing at the same conditions. The present results indicate that solute entrapment plays a major role in thermal stability of the high purity contaminant‐free Cu with the addition of only 1 at% Nb after annealing for 1 h up to a homologous temperature of 0.8. Kinetic stabilization via clustering of Nb atoms on the grain boundaries and the triple junctions is also observed after annealing at high temperature for longer times.