Interfacial solute-atom segregation is known to have profound effects on macroscopic physical properties (e.g. electronic transport or fracture toughness) in interface-influenced or controlled materials. It has recently been shown that solute-atom segregation also can play an influential role in the dynamics of phase transformations, in particular the oxidation kinetics of alumina-forming alloys such as PtAl. By coupling analytical electron microscopy (AEM) with conventional macroscopic oxidation studies, we have demonstrated that oxidation kinetics are affected by atomic-scale segregation of dopant species to the grain boundaries and metal-oxide boundaries in the system. Furthermore, these studies illustrate the utility of AEM techniques in elucidating the atomic-scale aspects of macroscopic physical phenomena such as phase transformations.

Oxidation studies were carried out on PtAl alloys with and without small additions of Zr to the alloy. While the pure PtAl alloys exhibited oxide scale spallation and very fast oxidation rates, the Zrcontaining alloys maintained a well-adhered oxide scale and significantly lower oxidation rates.