Nickel aluminide
Nickel aluminide typically refers to the one of the two most widely used compounds, Ni3Al or NiAl, however is generally any aluminide from the Ni-Al system. These alloys are widely used due to their corrosion resistance, low-density and easy production. Ni3Al is of specific interest as the strengthening γ' phase precipitate in nickel-based superalloys allowing for high temperature strength up to 0.7-0.8 of its melting temperature. Meanwhile, NiAl displays excellent properties such as low-density (lower than that of Ni3Al), good thermal conductivity, oxidation resistance and high melting temperature. These properties, make it ideal for special high temperature applications like coatings on blades in gas turbines and jet engines. However, both these alloys do have the disadvantage of being quite brittle at room temperature while Ni3Al remains brittle at high temperatures as well. Although, it has been shown that Ni3Al can be made ductile when manufactured as a single crystal as opposed to polycrystalline. Another application was demonstrated in 2005, when the most abrasion-resistant material was reportedly created by embedding diamonds in a matrix of nickel aluminide. (Wikipedia).
