Bulk and surface properties of liquid Ag–X (X = Ti, Hf) compound forming alloys

The thermodynamic data of the Ag–Ti and Ag–Hf systems as well as their phase diagrams are still incomplete. Moreover, up to now the phase diagram of the Ag–Hf system is not yet assessed. As concerns their thermophysical properties, a complete lack of experimental data is evident. Such a state of the art results from the experimental difficulties involved in high temperature measurements on highly reactive systems. Based on the experimental data on the existence of the AgTi, AgTi2, AgHf and AgHf2 intermetallic compounds in the Ag–Ti and Ag–Hf systems, respectively and our recently reported theoretical results on the Ag–Zr compound forming system, it is reasonable to expect similar mixing behaviour in these three alloy systems. The mixing behaviour of Ag–Ti and Ag–Hf has been analysed through the study of surface properties (surface tension and surface composition), transport properties (chemical diffusion and viscosity) and microscopic functions (concentration fluctuations in the long-wavelength limit and chemical short-range order parameter) in the frame of Quasi Lattice Theory (QLT) combined with a statistical mechanical theory.