The Influence of Similar Element Coexistence in (La-Ce)-Al-(Co-Cu) Bulk Metallic Glasses

Abstract

In this paper, a pseudo-ternary (La_0.5Ce_0.5)₆₅Al₁₀Co₂₅ alloy with high glass-forming ability (GFA), identified by the formation of glassy rods up to 12 mm in diameter by copper mold casting, was reported. Furthermore, according to the viewpoint that similar element coexistence can be beneficial to improve the GFA, Cu was chosen as the similar element to substitute for solute Co in (La_0.5Ce_0.5)₆₅Al₁₀(Co_1−xCu_x)₂₅ alloys (0≤x≤1). The influence of this substitution on thermal stability, melting and solidification behaviors of these metallic glasses was evaluated. The optimized (La_0.5Ce_0.5)₆₅Al₁₀(Co_0.6Cu_0.4)₂₅ alloy with high reduced glass transition temperature (0.66) and the large nominal supercooled degree (114 K) can form the fully glassy rods up to at least 25 mm in diameter by tilt-pour casting.