Primary Transformation Rate Measurements Through Differential Scanning Calorimetry

The primary crystallization of molten alloy systems at high undercooling is studied by a precise quantitative analysis of the calorimetric signal obtained during the transformation in terms of the reaction rate under isothermal and continuous heating regimes. It is shown that, under specific conditions, namely, stoechiometric primary precipitates, generalized relationships for the crystallization enthalpy and the reaction rate may be obtained.     

Residual entropy of glasses and their relation with the crystallization behaviour

For the alloy of eutectic composition in the quasibinary GeSe₂-Sb₂Se₃ system the heat capacities of the glass, undercooled and stable liquid and crystalline phases have been measured using differential scanning calorimetry. Enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs free energy differences of vitreous and crystalline forms have been deduced for this alloy. The kinetic parameters of crystallization for glasses of nearby composition have been obtained by continuous heating experiments. The effective activation energy obtained has a value that accounts for the activation energy for nucleation calculated using simple nucleation theory formulae.

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Zusammenfassung Die Wärmekapazitäten von Glas, unterkühlter und stabiler Flüssigkeit und kristallinen Phasen von Mischungen der eutektischen Zusammensetzung des quasibinären Systems GeSe₂-Sb₂Se₃ werden mittels DSC gemessen. Aus den Ergebnissen werden Enthalpie, Entropie und freie Enthalpie der glasartigen und kristallinen Formen dieser Mischung abgeleitet. Die kinetischen Parameter der Kristallisation von Gläsern benachbarter Zusammensetzungen wurden durch temperaturprogrammierte Untersuchungen ermittelt. Die erhaltenen effektiven Aktivierungsenergien entsprechen dem für die Keimbildung nach einfachen theoretischen Formeln berechneten Wert.

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, , GeSe₂-Sb₂Se₃. , . . , .

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This research was supported by the Comisión Asesora de Investigatión Cientifica y Técnica (CAICYT) project no. 759-84 which is gratefully acknowledged.     

Crystallization kinetic studies: A means to evaluate time-temperature-transformation curves. Application to metallic glasses

It is shown that the study of the kinetics of crystallization of an amorphous alloy may be used to obtain the correct form of the low temperature part of the time-temperature-transformation (T-T-T) curves. A unified review of the current kinetics of crystallization studies is presented and the general kinetic equation which gives the reaction rate as a function of temperature and crystalline fraction is shown to contain information related to theT-T-T-curves. Finally examples of application to two metallic glasses, Nd₃Fe₇₇B₂₀ and Fe_67.5Co₁₅Nb_1.5B₁₆, obtained by rapid solidification techniques are presented. The comparison between theory and experiment is satisfactory.

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Zusammenfassung Es wird gezeigt, daß die Untersuchung der Kristallisationskinetik von amorphen Legierungen genutzt werden kann, die korrekte Form des Niedertemperaturbereiches der Zeit-Temperatur-Transformation (T-T-T) Kurven zu erhalten. Es wird ein einheitlicher Überblick über die jüngsten Untersuchungen von Kristallisationskinetiken gegeben und an der allgemeinen Gleichung der Reaktionsgeschwindigkeit als eine Funktion von Temperatur und Kristallanteil wird gezeigt, daß sie Informationen bezüglich der T-T-T-Kurven beinhaltet. Letztlich wird eine Anwendung an zwei, durch schnelles Erstarren gewonnenen metallischen Gläsern Nd₃Fe₇₇B₂₀ und Fe_67.5Co₁₅Nb_1.5B₁₆ dargelegt. Zwischen Theorie und Praxis konnte eine ausreichende Übereinstimmung festgestellt werden.

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Dedicated to Professor Dr. H. J. Seifert on the occasion of his 60^th birthday

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This work was supported by the Comision Interdepartamental de Cienca y Tecnologia, CICYT (project No. MAT88-0439) which are acknowledged.     

Isolation of three new naturally occurring compounds from the culture of Micromonospora sp. P1068

Bioassay guided isolation of an antibacterial extract prepared from the fermentation broth of a Micromonospora sp. P1068 led to the isolation of eight compounds identified as (3R) 3,4',7-trihydroxy-isoflavanone (1), 3-hydroxydehydrodaidzein, daidzein (2), 3-methyl-1H-indole-2-carboxylic acid (3), 1H-indole-3-carboxaldehyde (4), 3-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-N-methylpropionamide, N-methylphloretamide (5), phenyl acetic acid (6), 2-hydroxy phenyl acetic acid (7) and 4-hydroxy-5-methoxy-benzoic acid (8). Compounds 1 and 5 were found to be novel chemical entities while 3 was isolated from a natural source for the first time. All compounds were evaluated for their antimicrobial activities against a panel of clinically significant microorganisms. Compound 4 was active against Staphylococcus aureus (MIC, 32 microg/ml), Enterococcus faecium (MIC, 32 microg/ml) and Escherichia coli (MIC, 64 microg/ml).     

Effect of Nb in the nanocrystallization and magnetic properties of FeNbBCu amorphous alloys

The crystallization of melt-spun Fe_79?xNb_5+xB₁₅Cu₁ (x = 0, 2, 4) ribbons has been studied by differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction. A primary crystallization of bcc-Fe nanoparticles embedded in an amorphous matrix, followed by the precipitation of metastable borides from the residual matrix at higher temperatures is observed. The characteristic temperatures of crystallization events change with Nb concentration. The results obtained from thermal and structural characterization are related to the magnetic properties of the sample. A dependence of the magnetic behavior with the Fe/Nb content in the alloy is also unveiled. The decrease of Nb content in the alloy leads to an enhancement of both the saturation polarization and the Curie temperature due to variations in the exchange coupling between Fe atoms. However, the maximum values of magnetic entropy change do not vary appreciably among the three amorphous alloys. In nanocrystalline samples the amount of the nanocrystalline transformed fraction seems to be the main reason for the change in the saturation polarization of the sample.     

Microstructure evolution and grain size distribution in nanocrystalline FeNbBCu from synchrotron XRD and TEM analysis

The microstructure evolution during nanocrystallization of an Fe₇₇Nb₇B₁₅Cu₁ amorphous alloy is investigated using in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The microstructure of the nanocrystallized alloy consists in dispersion of bcc-Fe nanocrystals of 4–6 nm of diameter embedded in a stabilized amorphous remaining matrix. The grain size distribution of the nanocrystalline Fe₇₇Nb₇B₁₅Cu₁ alloy was obtained using three different methodologies: statistical analysis of TEM images, the Warren–Averbach and Langford methods to analyse the XRD patterns and modelling of the diffraction pattern from the Debye equation. A lognormal distribution function has been assumed in all three methods in order to obtain comparable results. A good agreement is found in the calculated average radius and dispersion although some deviations are found with the Langford approach. The microstructure evolution during crystallization was obtained from the XRD patterns during heating (5.0 · 10^?3 K s^?1) at temperatures between 700 and 900 K. A decrease and prompt saturation of the growth rate is obtained, indicative of the diffusion barrier caused to the overlap between the concentration gradients at the interface of growing grains (soft impingement). A simple model assuming nucleation and initial fast growth of the crystalline grains followed by reduced growth capable of predicting microstructural evolution is presented. The modelling results agree with the experimental observations.     

Glass-to-crystalline transformation in rapidly quenched Fe78B9Si13 ferromagnetic alloy

Calorimetric studies of the ferromagnetic Curie temperature T_c, and the crystallization kinetics of the metallic glass Fe₇₈B₉Si₁₃ have been performed in an attempt to elucidate the possibility of reversible relaxation processes near T_c and the crystallization mechanisms taking place. From the change of T_c with heating rate and on annealing it appears that ageing irreversibly increases the Curie temperature. Crystallization is thermally activated following an Arrhenius behaviour and proceeds in two stages, the best fit to the experimental data for each stage of crystallization has been obtained by use of a Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Erofe'ev equation. The effective activation energy and the kinetic exponent are respectively E = (4.7 ± 0.1) eV, n = 2.0 ± 0.2 for the first and E = (4.5 ± 0.1) eV, n = 4.0 ± 0.2 for the second stage of crystallization. From these results it appears that the mechanisms of crystallization are quite different in both stages.