Effect of temperature on inter-metallic associations in Sb-Zn liquid alloys

A statistical mechanical theory, in conjunction with a compound formation m odel has been used to develop expressions for various thermodynamic and mic roscopic structural functions for 4:3 inter-metallic compounds. These expre ssions, in turn, have been used to investigate the alloying behaviour and i ts temperature dependence in Sb-Zn liquid alloys. Our expressions for 4:3 c ompounds not only reproduce the asymmetric nature of thermodynamic function s such as the excess free energy of mixing and the activity coefficient but also provide structural information about Sb-Zn liquid alloys. The study o f concentration fluctuations in the long wavelength limit [Scc(0)], chemica l short range order parameter (alpha(1)) and diffusion coefficient clearly demonstrate the presence of Zn4Sb3 compounds in the melt. It is also observ ed that the tendency for inter-metallic associations, which leads to the fo rmation of Zn4Sb3 compounds, decreases with the increase of temperature. (C ) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.