A Nonconventional Method to Produce Zr Alloys to Study the Fe₂₃Zr₆ Intermetallic Compound in the Fe-Zr System

A nonconventional method with an arc furnace was used to produce four binary alloys of Fe_79.3Zr_20.7 nominal atomic compositions with the aim of studying the Fe₂₃Zr₆ controversial intermetallic compound. The alloys were manufactured with raw materials with different degrees of purity. The existing phases were identified by x-ray diffraction, semi-quantitative microanalysis by means of a scanning electron microscope with an energy dispersive spectrometer attached, and quantitative microanalysis by using an electron microprobe with a wavelength dispersive spectrometer. The Fe₂₃Zr₆ phase, which until now has been observed in grains up to 20 µm in size in arc-furnace samples, was found in millimeter scales in the present work. Moreover, slow cooling of the alloys from the liquid state favors the formation of the Fe₂₃Zr₆ compound, regardless of the degree of purity of the heat-treated samples.