Thermodynamic reassessment of the Ag–Cu phase diagram at nano-scale

Abstract

The Ag–Cu phase diagram at nanoscale was reassessed by CALculation of PHAse Diagrams (CALPHAD) method, considering the surface effect on the chemical potential of pure substance and excess Gibbs free energy of mixtures. According to the reported thermodynamic properties of pure Ag and Cu nanoparticles (NPs), and the measured melting eutectic temperatures of Ag8Cu2, Ag7Cu3, Ag6Cu5 to Ag5Cu5 NPs, respectively, obtained in the previous works, self-consistent thermodynamic parameters including the size effect were obtained by thermodynamic optimization. Using the obtained thermodynamic parameters, four Ag–Cu nano phase diagrams were constructed, and thermodynamic properties were calculated. It was indicated that the calculated Ag–Cu nano phase diagrams agreed well with experimental data.