Structural and thermal study of nanostructured Cr80Co10Si10 mixture

Structural evolution during milling process of Cr80Co10Si10 (wt.%) mixture was followed by the combination of the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The structural parameters of different phases were deduced from the Rietveld refinement of the XRD patterns using the MAUD program. The thermal stability of the obtained powders was investigated by the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The Rietveld refinement of XRD patterns shows that the obtained mixture after 24 h of milling consists in nanocrystalline bcc-Cr(Co, Si) solid solution and amorphous-like phase. The DSC scans give evidence of exothermic reactions corresponding to structural relaxation, grain growth and crystallization of the disordered mixture. The annealing of the 24 h-milled powders induces the crystallization of the amorphous part of the mixture. The activation energy determined from Kissenger's model is found to be 259.36 +/- 11.16 kJ/mol. (C) 2016 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.