Microstructure evaluation and thermal properties of Ag–Sb alloys

Abstract

The microstructure and thermal properties of four Ag–Sb alloys prepared using 12.1, 40.0, 43.9, and 81.1 at.% Sb have been experimentally studied in this paper. The microconstituents and compositions of the prepared samples were studied using energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The phase transition temperatures of the investigated alloys were determined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and compared with the results obtained using thermodynamic calculations. The temperature of the eutectic reaction was determined to be 484.1 °C. Thermal diffusivity measurements in the temperature range from 25 to 400 °C were performed using the xenon-flash method, followed by determination of the thermal conductivity. The temperature and composition dependence of the density, thermal diffusivity, specific heat capacity, and thermal conductivity for the solid Ag–Sb alloys were determined. The obtained results revealed that the thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity decrease upon increasing the Ag content in composition range studied due to the formation of low heat-conductive intermetallic phases.