Formation of amorphous alumina during sintering of nanocrystalline B2 aluminides

Nanocrystalline B2 aluminide (FeAl and NiAl) powders were synthesized using high energy ball milling and were consolidated using three different sintering methods: conventional pressureless sintering, microwave sintering and spark plasma sintering. The particle-particle contacts after sintering were found to have compositional gradient from interior to surface leading to formation of an Al-O rich phase. This Al-O rich phase formation is primarily attributed to oxygen pick-up during handling of powders and during sintering, leading to formation of amorphous alumina. The formation of amorphous phase is explained by examining the defect concentrations and their interactions. The composite developed with amorphous alumina as a second phase in an ordered B2 matrix can be of great interest for potential structural applications.