Spontaneous Liquefaction of Solid Metal-Liquid Metal Interfaces in Colloidal Binary Alloys.

ABSTRACT: Crystallization of alloys from a molten state is a fundamental process underpinning metallurgy. Here the direct imaging of an intermetallic precipitation reaction at equilibrium in a liquid-metal environment is demonstrated. It is shown that the outer layers of a solidified intermetallic are surprisingly unstable to the depths of several nanometers, fluctuating between a crystalline and a liquid state. This effect, referred to herein as crystal interface liquefaction, is observed at remarkably low temperatures and results in highly unstable crystal interfaces at temperatures exceeding 200 K below the bulk melting point of the solid. In general, any liquefaction process would occur at or close to the formal melting point of a solid, thus differentiating the observed liquefaction phenomenon

SUBMITTER: Parker CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11234468 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature