Icosahedral nanophases in the Al–Mn–Ce system

Abstract

Nano-icosahedral phases were prepared by melt-spinning in the AlMnCe system (Al ≥ 89 at.%). Ce-induced structure alterations are reported by x-ray diffraction for the icosahedral (i) AlMnCe phase. They comprise apparition of superstructure diffraction lines, due to chemical ordering in the 6-dimensional icosahedral lattice, which gradually changes from a simple to a face-centered (FCI) type. Also, strong anomalies of diffracted intensities, with reference to model FCI phases, support Ce preferential location on a special set of sites. Microstructure investigations show a nanodispersion of i-AlMnCe in an Al-rich matrix, suggesting a low nucleation barrier of this metastable phase in the melt.