Fluxing induced boron alloying in Fe-based bulk metallic glasses

In this work, we report on advanced insights into the effects of fluxing on Fe50Ni30P13C7 bulk metallic glasses. We find that the employed oxide fluxing agent results in significant incorporation of boron in the alloy by atom probe tomography analysis. It demonstrates that the improved glass-forming ability induced by fluxing attributes to not only the reduction of heterogeneous nucleation, but also boron alloying. In addition, the more densely packed microstructure of the fluxed alloys is also related to amount of boron addition. Such an understanding is of great importance to adequately process glass-forming liquids, in order to achieve optimized bulk metallic glass parts with enhanced thicknesses and improved mechanical properties.