Rapid mechanochemical synthesis of amorphous alloys

Abstract

A rapid method for preparing amorphous alloys has been developed utilizing a SPEX high energy ball mill. Parameters such as ball size, mass of balls and milling time, were systematically optimized to prepare amorphous alloys quickly. Amorphous alloys previously not thought possible to synthesize by means of SPEX milling were made amorphous by the new method. When applied to the preparation of Sn-Co-C and Si-Fe alloys, the method was found to produce fully amorphous alloys in a matter of hours instead of days or weeks of milling by traditional techniques. Electrochemical performance of the alloys produced by the rapid milling technique in Li cells was found to be the same or superior to alloys produced by the more time consuming methods, confirming their amorphous microstructure.