Segregation and immiscibility in liquid binary alloys

Abstract

An overview of the thermophysical properties of segregating and demixing liquid binary alloys is presented encompassing the simple approaches that are commonly used by physicists, chemists and metallurgists in general. The various experimental and theoretical information available for such systems are put together to establish a respectable understanding between the experimental results, theoretical approaches and the empirical models. The key to understanding is the deviation that the properties exhibit from Raoult's law and the marked change in the liquid phase as a function of composition, temperature and pressure. The characteristic behaviour is ascribed to an outcome of the interplay of the energetic and structural re-adjustment of the constituent elements on mixing. After summarizing the experimental technique and some results, a comprehensive microscopic approach, based on statistical, electronic and hard sphere-like theory, is undertaken to further the understanding of the origin of the intriguing processes that are associated with the immiscible and phase-separating liquid alloys. We conclude by providing a brief account of the kinetic aspects of phase separation with some intended industrial applications.