Multicomponent Grain Boundary Segregation Dilute-Limit Model and Its Effect on Nanocrystalline Stability

Abstract

Grain boundary segregation of solutes is a powerful tool for stabilizing nanocrystalline materials. However, previous studies developed an approach to calculate stabilization only in binary systems. In this work, we derive a spectral segregation model for an arbitrary number of solutes in the dilute limit (neglecting solute--solute interactions) and demonstrate that multicomponent segregation substantially expands the range of nanocrystalline alloys thermodynamically stable against both grain growth and phase separation.

19 pages, 11 figures