Thermodynamic Assessment of the Cu-B System Supported by Key Experiment and First-Principles Calculations

Abstract

The Cu-B system was investigated via a hybrid approach of key experiment and thermodynamic modeling. Based on the critically assessed Cu-B phase diagram, seven crucial alloys were selected and prepared by arc melting the pure elements. An inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometric analysis was conducted to determine the compositions of the prepared alloys. The phase equilibria were determined by using x-ray diffraction, electron probe microanalysis, and differential thermal analysis. The temperature associated with the eutectic reaction, \( {\text{L}}\Leftrightarrow {\text{(B)}} + {\text{(Cu)}},\) was measured to be 1028 ± 2 °C. First-principles calculations indicate that the energy of inserting a B atom into the interstitial vacancy (Va) site of the lattice for Cu atoms is marginally lower than that of substituting for a Cu atom with a B atom. Consequently, the sublattice model (Cu)(B, Va) in which B atoms occupy the interstitial sites was employed for the fcc (Cu) phase rather than the model (Cu, B)(Va) in which B atoms substitute for Cu atoms. A thermodynamic modeling of the Cu-B system was then performed by considering the reliable literature data and the present experimental results. A good agreement between modeling and experiment was obtained.