Syntactic bulk metallic glass foam

Abstract

An amorphous metal foam with a bulk density of 3.4 g/cm3 is created by low-pressure melt infiltration of the bulk metallic glass-forming alloy Zr57Nb5Cu15.4Ni12.6Al10 into a bed of hollow carbon microspheres, followed by rapid quenching. The foam consists of a glassy metallic matrix containing ∼60 vol. % of homogenously distributed carbon microspheres, 25–50 μm in diameter, with small amounts of ZrC at the interface. An amorphous foam with 5 mm diameter showed no measurable loss in thermal stability as compared to the amorphous alloy in bulk form.