Physical chemistry of the organic analog of metal–metal eutectic and monotectic alloys

Abstract

The phase diagram of an organic analog of a metal–metal system involving succinonitrile (SCN) and carbontetrabromide (CTB) shows the formation of a eutectic (0.996 mole fraction of SCN) and a monotectic (0.040 mole fraction of SCN) with a wide range of miscibility gap in the system. The consolute temperature is 111.5°C above the monotectic horizontal. The growth data, determined by measuring the rate of movement of solid–liquid interface in a capillary, at different undercooling (Δ T) suggest that they obey the parabolic law, v= u(Δ T) n , where v is the linear velocity of crystallization and u and n are constants depending on the nature of materials involved. Using enthalpy of fusion of the pure components, the eutectic and the monotectic, entropy of fusion, Jackson's roughness parameter, interfacial energy, size of the critical nucleus and excess thermodynamic functions were calculated. While microstructural investigations of pure components give dendritic microstructures, those of eutectic and monotectic give characteristic lamellar structures.