Surmounting the thermal processing limits: Patterning TiZrCuPdSn bulk metallic glass even with nanocrystallization

Fei-Fan Cai, Baran Sarac, Zhuo Chen, Caterina Marina Czibula, Florian Spieckermann, Jürgen Eckert

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Ni-free Ti-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are promising for biomedical applications, thanks to their excellent biocompatibility and high corrosion resistance. BMGs can be shaped and patterned by viscous flow deformation using thermoplastic net-shaping. This work presents a novel strategy for thermoplastic net-shaping of Ti40Zr10Cu34Pd14Sn2 BMG. Instead of operating for a short time slightly above the glass transition temperature to avoid crystallization, the proposed method accepts the formation of nanocrystals and makes use of the lower viscosity of the supercooled liquid when processing above the glass transition temperature. Following this approach, Ti40Zr10Cu34Pd14Sn2 BMG is deformed from a rod to a thin disk, and patterns scaling from 5 μm to 300 μm are successfully created on the Ti-BMG surfaces, demonstrating the potential to create complex features for functional materials. Furthermore, after the thermoplastic net-shaping treatment, the Vickers hardness increases by 6% while the corrosion and passivation current density decrease by an order of magnitude. This work reveals that the BMGs can still be deformed and patterned via the thermoplastic net-shaping technique if the first crystallization event of the BMG systems is the formation of nanocrystals. Most importantly, this work reveals the possibility of processing a broad family of mediocre glass-forming systems and semi-crystalline composites via thermoplastic net-shaping.
Original languageEnglish
Article number100316
Number of pages8
JournalMaterials today advances
Volume16.2022
Issue numberDecember
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 Nov 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors

Keywords

  • Biomaterials
  • Bulk metallic glass
  • Nanocrystals
  • Patterning
  • Thermoplastic net-shaping
  • Titanium alloys

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