Crystallization kinetics and thermal stability of an amorphous Fe77C5B4Al2GaP9Si2 bulk metallic glass

The thermal stability, kinetics and glass forming ability of an Fe77C5B4Al2GaP9Si2 bulk amorphous alloy have been studied by differential scanning calorimerry. The activation energy, frequency factor and rate constant corresponding to the multiple crystallization steps were determined by the Kissinger method. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy studies revealed that the crystallization starts with the primary precipitation of alpha-Fe from the amorphous matrix. The kinetics of nucleation of the alpha-Fe nanoparticles was investigated by two different methods, i.e. isothermal annealing and continuous heating after partial annealing.