High-energy ball milling has been performed on FexAl1-x powder mixtures wit
h x=0.75, 0.50, 0.25 and 0.20. X-ray diffraction, Mossbauer spectroscopy an
d electron microscopy have been used to characterize the samples milled for
different times and annealed in a differential scanning calorimeter. It is
found that, during milling, there is diffusion of both elements into each
other, with a prevalence of iron diffusion into aluminium, at least in the
early stages of the process. This behaviour is more pronounced in the alumi
nium-rich samples. The growth of the Fe(Al) and Al(Fe) solid solutions has
been observed for x greater than or equal to 0.5, different from the lower
iron concentrations where the Fe(Al) phase has not been detected. The annea
ling of pre-milled samples favours the formation, depending on the sample c
omposition and on the annealing temperature, of intermetallic phases such a
s Fe3Al, FeAl, Fe2Al5 and FeAl3. (C) 1998 Chapman & Hall.