Hierarchical nanoporous metal/BMG composite rods with excellent mechanical properties

Abstract Hierarchical nanoporous structured NPC/BMG composite rods (NPC/BMG: nanoporous copper/bulk metallic glass) were facilely fabricated by one-pot chemical dealloying the Cu 50 Zr 45 Al 5 BMG rods in 0.05 M HF solution for 24 h. The cross-sectional SEM images illustrate that the NPC/BMG composite rods exhibit the perfect combination of inner rod-shaped Cu-Zr-Al amorphous phase core and outer tube-shaped NPC layer with a thickness of 85 μm. As compared to the reported NPC composites, the new composite rods demonstrate remarkable enhanced mechanical properties with an ultrahigh strength of 1500 MPa and a large compression strain of 2.9%. Additionally, the increase in the compression strain is attributed to the formation of the buffer deformation zone resulting from the existence of the outer nanoporous copper tube.