An innovative procedure for synthesizing Al70M20(Fe, Co)Cr10 amorphous nanoparticles by arc discharge method and investigation of their magnetic, hardness, and corrosion resistance properties

Al70Fe20Cr10 and Al70Co20Cr10 amorphous nanoparticles were prepared by plasma arc discharge process under arc current of 50 A and 1 atm. pressure in liquid nitrogen medium. XRD patterns of the as-prepared powders exhibit amorphous nature. According to TEM images, the Al70Fe20Cr10 and Al70Co20Cr10 amorphous nanoparticles have a spherical shape with a mean size of 27 and 35 nm, respectively. Static magnetic measurements using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) indicate that the Al70Co20Cr10 amorphous alloy has a higher saturation magnetization of 9.3 emu/g and a lower coercive field of 14 Oe compared with 3.8 emu/g and 45 Oe for the Al70Fe20Cr10 amorphous alloy. In contrast, the Al70Fe20Cr10 amorphous alloy has a higher hardness and shows approximately 20 times more corrosion resistance than the Al70Co20Cr10 amorphous alloy. •Al70Fe20Cr10 and Al70Co20Cr10 amorphous nanoparticles were produced by arc method.•Nanoparticles were spherical, with mean size of 35 and 27 nm and stable over time.•Results showed that the both were soft ferromagnetism and the latter was softer.•Their microhardness is about 15 times higher than that of the initial powders.•Corrosion resistance of Al70Fe20Cr10 is about 20 times higher than that of Al70Co20Cr10.