Microstructural characterization of rapidly solidified Al 90 Ce 10 alloy

In the present work, the microstructure of the melt-spun Al 90 Ce 10 alloy has been characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) together with energy-dispersive spectrometry. It has been found that the microstructure of the melt-spun Al 90 Ce 10 alloy is composed of the amorphous phase, f-Al, f-Al 11 Ce 3 , Al 3 Ce and unidentified phases, quite different from that of the ingot-like alloy consisting of coarse primary f-Al- f-Al 11 Ce 3 dendrites embedded in the f-Al- f-Al 11 Ce 3 eutectic matrix. Moreover, the amorphous phase is dominant in the melt-spun Al 90 Ce 10 alloy according to the XRD and TEM results. Al 3 Ce particles, less than 100 nm in size, are dispersed in the partial amorphous phase. Polygonal f-Al 11 Ce 3 crystals embedded in the f-Al matrix are also observed. The presence of the hexagonal, kite-like and petal-like intermetallic particles surrounded by the amorphous phase indicates that there exist micro-inhomogeneous structures in the Al 90 Ce 10 melt. These results demonstrate that the overheating of the melt has a significant effect on the amorphization of the Al 90 Ce 10 alloy.