Abstract
Beside their technological importance in soldering, the low melting eutectic alloys based on bismuth and indium have potential for commercial application in the field of phase-change materials (PCMs). In this respect, the knowledge of their microstructure and thermal properties such as melting temperature, latent heat of melting, supercooling tendency, thermal conductivity, etc. is of large importance. In this study, two ternary eutectic Bi-In-Sn alloys were investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Microstructure of the prepared eutectic alloys was analyzed using SEM-EDS and identification of co-existing phases was done. Melting temperatures and latent heats of eutectic melting were measured using DSC technique. Experimentally obtained results were compared with the results of thermodynamic calculation according to CALPHAD (calculation of phase diagram) approach and good mutual agreement was obtained.
Highlights
Phase change materials (PCMs) are materials with high heat of fusion which undergo melting/solidification process at a constant or nearly constant temperature and absorb/ release thermal energy from/to the surroundings[1]
Low melting eutectic alloys based on bismuth and indium are among the best candidates for middle temperature PCMs6
Phase diagram of the ternary Bi-In-Sn system was experimentally investigated by Kabassis and Rutter[25,26,27]
Summary
Phase change materials (PCMs) are materials with high heat of fusion which undergo melting/solidification process at a constant or nearly constant temperature and absorb/ release thermal energy from/to the surroundings[1]. Low melting metals and eutectic alloys represent relatively new class of PCMs1,6,10,11. The main advantages of low melting metallic materials usage as PCMs are their high thermal conductivity and high volumetric latent heat[6,10]. Low melting eutectic alloys based on bismuth and indium are among the best candidates for middle temperature PCMs (with operating temperature from 40 to 200 °C)[6]. Many important thermo-physical properties such as melting point, latent heat of fusion, specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity for many low melting bismuth and indium based eutectics are still unknown[10]. The aim of this work is experimental and analytical investigation of microstructure, melting temperatures and latent heats of fusion for the eutectic alloys from the Bi-InSn ternary system.
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