Synthesis of Ni-free bulk metallic glasses and their biomedical applications

A series of Ni-free Zr-based bulk metallic glasses have been developed. These Ni-free bulk metallic glasses show excellent mechanical properties, for instance 1.71 GPa tensile strength and 2.25% elasticity. Crystallization studies on these Ni-free alloys show a nano-sized icosaheral phase with a lattice constant of about 4.76 A, followed by the formation of Zr2Fe and other phases. The icosaheral phase possibly grows from a phase-separated region. The good mechanical properties of these alloys and the fact that they contain no Ni make them particularly interesting for biomedical applications. One of these would be to prepare stents from these Ni-free bulk metallic glasses to prevent aneurisms in the human brain.