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.