Vaporization study on lanthanum–neodymium alloys by mass-spectrometry

Abstract

Partial vapor pressure of Nd(g) over La x Nd 1− x alloys ( x=0.10, 0.20, 0.30, 0.40, 0.50, 0.60, 0.70, 0.80 and 0.90) was measured with a time-of-flight mass-spectrometer equipped with a tungsten Knudsen cell over the temperature range of 1474–1767 K. Thermodynamic activity of neodymium in the liquid alloys was determined by comparing the partial vapor pressure of Nd(g) over the alloys with that over the pure metal. The thermodynamic activity of lanthanum in the alloys was calculated from that of neodymium obtained experimentally in this study by graphic integration using the Gibbs–Duhem equation. Both activities for each element, thus obtained, showed positive deviations from Raoult's law over the entire compositional range. Thermodynamic quantities such as Gibbs free energy of formation, excess enthalpy etc. were also calculated from the thermodynamic activities.