For XRD, disks of 8 mm diameter and 2 mm thickness were ground to a 2400 grit finish via SiC paper, and then samples were mounted and analysed via a Bruker Axs D4 Endeavor using Cu Kα radiation. 2θ was varied from 10–90° with a step size of 0.02°.
For OM, samples of similar dimension were used, however further polishing was done using a mixture of a colloidal silica suspension (OP-S) and hydrogen peroxide until a mirror finish was achieved. Following this, the samples were etched using Kroll’s reagent until surface features could be resolved. Grain size was analysed in accordance with the Abrams Three-Circle Procedure, outlined in ASTM E-11238 .
TEM analysis was undertaken on 3 mm foils, using JEOL-1010 and JEOL-2010 microscopes; these were prepared from disks cut via WEDM to 1 mm of thickness, then ground via SiC papers to a thickness of 80–100 µm, dimpled to a central thickness of 20 µm, and finally thinned to electron transparency (~100 nm) using a JEOL EM-09100 Ion Slicer.