Melting point depression method for determining the solid–liquid interfacial energy of metal elements: theoretical validation and updated compilation of data

Abstract

Comparative analyses of the crystal nucleation method and the melting point depression (MPD) method for measuring the solid–liquid interface energy γsl are carried out. The MPD method is found more reliable and has several advantages from experiment through data analysis to theoretical generalisation. The MPD data in use, all reported before the 1970s, are updated with the derived γsl re-compiled. Finally, by invoking a melting model that we developed recently, an equation for calculating γsl is proposed on basis of the melting point depression method.