Nanoporous Behavior Induced by Excess Vacancy Clustering in Rapidly-Solidified B2 FeAl Ribbons

Rapidly solidified ribbons of B2-ordered Fe-40, 45 and 50mol%Al were produced by a conventional single-roll melt-spinning method. The lattice parameters of as-spun ribbons are fully restored by annealing at 723 K for 24 h. This suggests that large numbers of supersaturated thermal vacancies are removed by the heat treatment. After the heat treatment, it is found that clustering of the supersaturated vacancies leads to a large number of pores that have a few hundreds nm or less in diameter near the surfaces, thus creating nanoporous surfaces. DSC measurements show irreversible exothermic peaks due to vacancy clustering. Vacancy complexes such as dislocations and pores are also observed inside the ribbons by TEM. The volume fraction of the overall vacancy complexes shows Al concentration dependence, demonstrating that defect structure formed by clustering of the excess vacancies is controllable by changing Al concentration in rapidly solidified FeAl ribbons.