BEHAVIOR OF THE INTERFACE BETWEEN LIQUID BISMUTH AND MOLTEN SODIUM-CHLORIDE AT LARGE ANODIC POLARIZATION

Some new features of phase transitions in a liquid bismuth-molten sodi um chloride system were established. These are caused by extreme anodi c polarization of the interface between immiscible liquids with metall ic and ionic bonds between species and were investigated using measure ments of the difference between the heights of liquid columns in the a rms of communicating vessels of different cross sections. As the poten tial shifts toward the potential of anodic dissolution, the interfacia l tension and its derivative with respect to the potential decrease. A t a certain value of the potential, inversion of the meniscus occurs, when the interface changes the sign of its curvature and a film of the metal phase penetrates between the wall and the salt phase, which com pletely wets this wall. It was found that near the potential of menisc us inversion the dependence between this potential and the interfacial tension can be expressed as a power-law function with the value of th e exponent close to 0.1. The results are discussed from the viewpoint of the interaction between the ionic components of the metal and salt phases, which increases and extends beyond the boundaries of the domai n of physical contact between phases as this domain approaches its cri tical state.