Structural and thermodynamic properties of nanocrystalline fcc metals prepared by mechanical attrition

Nanocrystalline fcc metals have been synthesized by mechanical attrition. The crystal refinement and the development of the microstructure have been investigated in detail by x-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and transmission electron microscopy. The deformation process causes a decrease of the grain size of the fcc metals to 6–22 nm for the different elements. The final grain size scales with the melting point and the bulk modulus of the respective metal: the higher the melting point and the bulk modulus, the smaller the final grain size of the powder. Thus, the ultimate grain size achievable by this technique is determined by the competition between the heavy mechanical deformation introduced during milling and the recovery behavior of the metal. X-ray diffraction and thermal analysis of the nanocrystalline powders reveal that the crystal size refinement is accompanied by an increase in atomic-level strain and in the mechanically stored enthalpy in comparison to the undeformed state. The excess stored enthalpies of 10–40% of the heat of fusion exceed by far the values known for conventional deformation processes. The contributions of the atomic-level strain and the excess enthalpy of the grain boundaries to the stored enthalpies are critically assessed. The kinetics of grain growth in the nanocrystalline fcc metals are investigated by thermal analysis. The activation energy for grain boundary migration is derived from a modified Kissinger analysis, and estimates of the grain boundary enthalpy are given.