Kinetics of liquid–structure change of In–Sn and In–Pb melts

Abstract

In this article, we investigate the kinetics of temperature-induced liquid–liquid structure changes in In–Sn80 wt% and In–Pb80 wt% alloy melts by measuring the electrical resistivity, and obvious kinetic phenomena are observed during isothermal and heating experiments. We found that the time evolution of the electrical resistivity could be described by the autocatalytic reaction model, which is an indication of nucleation growth type. The mechanism of autocatalysis and the kinetic phenomena have been roughly discussed. Using Kissinger's equation, their apparent activation energy (E _k) at transition beginning point has also been calculated.

Keywords:

• Liquid structure change
• Electrical resistivity
• Activation energy

Acknowledgements

This project is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 50371024, 50571033) and Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province no. 070414178.