Effect of structural disorder on the oxidation of Zr-based amorphous alloys: A focused review

Structural disordering leads to outstanding mechanical properties of amorphous alloys. Many properties are strongly related to formation of surface oxide layers. An in-depth understanding of effect of structural disordering of amorphous alloys on oxide evolution is essential for applications. This paper presents a review of recent comparative oxidation studies of Zr-based amorphous and single-phase crystalline counterpart alloys. Three representative model alloy systems are selected: Zr-Cu and Zr-Al representing alloys with components of different and similar oxygen affinities, respectively, and Zr-Cu-Al representing multi-component alloys. In combination with molecular dynamic simulations, the fundamental role of the structural disordering of parent alloys in the oxidation processes is revealed. The oxidation of Zr-Cu-Al-Ni amorphous alloys at the supercooled liquid temperature region is further reviewed to clarify the relationship between oxidation and substrate crystallization.