Mechanism of combustion synthesis of Mg2Ni

To investigate the mechanism of combustion synthesis of Mg2Ni, a mixture of Mg, Ni was used for a combustion front quenching test, and the microstructural evolution in the quenched sample was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The temperature-time profile of the combustion was measured, and the phase constituents of the different zones of the quenched sample were inspected by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Based on these experimental results, the mechanism of the combustion synthesis was analyzed, and a solid phase diffusion-dissolution-precipitation mechanism was proposed. An incompleteness of the combustion was found to be related to the usage of coarse reactant powders. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.