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In this letter, it is found that when the critical electric current pulse (ECP) passes through a Cu-Zn alloy with lead inclusions, those inclusions will disappear and transfer into grain boundaries or defects, forming many dispersed small particles of lead. Such kind of lead transfer can be produced by no other heat treatments than ECP. The theoretical analysis points out that this phenomenon is attributed to its specific effect on reducing considerably the diffusion activation energy of lead in the alloy. Therefore, the ECP treatment would provide a promising method to refine materials and to improve their physical properties. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.