A Comparative Study of Processing Protocol on an Atypical Heusler Alloy Fe₂ (V_1-xW_x) Al

The ternary chemical framework XY₂Z; [where X and Y are transition metals and Z is a p-block element] of typical or full Heusler compounds, produces a plethora of physical properties. Due to nonstoichiometric compositions the atypical alloy offers enhanced tunability; random atomic scale substitution concomitant with off-stoichiometric composition affects transport properties; thermal and electronic properties can be selectively targeted, viz., thermal conductivity in the quaternary alloy Fe₂ (V_1-xW_x) Al, is impacted by the large variation in the atomic weights of Vanadium (51) and Tungsten (184). These attributes offer great potential for improving the technologically attractive properties of these complex materials. We investigated the influence of synthesis and processing protocols, such as sequenced melting, reacting, sintering and annealing with varied time-temperature cycling, on crystallinity and physical properties of bulk Fe₂(V_1-xW_0.2)Al polycrystalline solids, with x~0.2. Furthermore, in this project we incorporated several commercially available AI to analyze XRD, EDS and other data. The implications of our findings will be discussed.