It is found that a single icosahedral quasicrystalline phase is formed as a
primary precipitation phase in the melt-spun Zr70Pd30 binary glassy alloy
with a two-stage crystallization process. The onset temperature of the tran
sformation from the amorphous to the icosahedral phase is 701 K at the heat
ing rate of 0.67 K s(1). The size of the icosahedral particles lies in the
diameter range below 10 nm and the particles are distributed homogeneously.
The second-stage crystallization reaction results in the formation of a Zr
2Pd phase through a single exothermic reaction. The formation of the nanosc
ale icosahedral phase indicates the possibility that icosahedral short-rang
e order exists in the Zr-Pd binary glassy state. Comparison with the therma
l stability of an icosahedral phase in the Zr-Ni-Pd system shows that the i
cosahedral phase is stabilized by the addition of Ni. The stabilization is
due to the restraint of the long-range rearrangement of the constitutional
elements resulting from the strong chemical affinity between Zr and Ni.