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http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32695| Title: | Nanoscale Fe-Containing Intermetallic Formation in Al-Fe-Mn-Si Alloys: Unveiling a Rare Explosive Nucleation Pathway under Liquid Confinement |
| Authors: | Que, Z Negrea, RF Fan, Z |
| Keywords: | oxide films;heterogeneous nucleation;amorphous oxides;Fe-containing intermetallic compounds;Si |
| Issue Date: | 20-Jan-2026 |
| Publisher: | Elsevier |
| Citation: | Que, Z., Negrea, R.F. and Fan, Z. (2026) 'Nanoscale Fe-Containing Intermetallic Formation in Al-Fe-Mn-Si Alloys: Unveiling a Rare Explosive Nucleation Pathway under Liquid Confinement', Materials Today Communications, 0 (in press, pre-proof), 114714, pp. 1 - 24. doi: 10.1016/j.mtcomm.2026.114714. |
| Abstract: | Iron (Fe) is an unavoidable impurity in recycled aluminium (Al), where the formation of Fe-containing intermetallic compounds (Fe-IMCs) severely reduces ductility and performance due to their coarse morphology. The nucleation difficulty of Fe-IMCs remains a critical barrier to both Fe removal efficiency and refinement of Fe-IMCs as secondary phases, limiting the use of recycled feedstock in high-performance applications. Conventional approaches have focused on development potent grain refiners to promote heterogeneous nucleation by providing structural and compositional templating. However, despite advances in nucleation theory and refiner development, significant refinement of Fe-IMCs has proven elusive. In this study, we report an unexpected case of impeding heterogeneous nucleation, where nanoscale Fe-IMCs explosively form within confined oxide films in an Al-Fe-Mn-Si alloy. Using advanced scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) we reveal that dense amorphous oxide films and carbides act as substrates for impeding nucleation. These results highlight how that confinement oxide films can activate non-classical nucleation pathways, offering the other possibility to control Fe-IMC formation and enhance the upcycling potential of recycled Al alloys. |
| Description: | Data availability:
Data will be made available on request. This is a PDF of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form. As such, this version is no longer the Accepted Manuscript, but it is not yet the definitive Version of Record; we are providing this early version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that Elsevier’s sharing policy for the Published Journal Article applies to this version, see: https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies-and-standards/sharing#4-publishedjournal- article. Please also note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. |
| URI: | https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32695 |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtcomm.2026.114714 |
| Other Identifiers: | ORCiD: Zhongping Que https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5065-100X ORCiD: Raluca Florentina Negrea https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2857-0913 ORCiD: Zhongyun Fan https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4079-7336 |
| Appears in Collections: | Brunel Centre for Advanced Solidification Technology (BCAST) |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FullText.pdf | Copyright © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under a Creative Commons license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). | 2.51 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License
