Intermetallic surface compound

The properties of alloy and intermetallic compound surfaces play an important role for the development of new materials. Attention has been stimulated from various topics in microelectronics, magnetism, heterogeneous catalysis and corrosion research. The investigation of binary alloys serves also as a first step in the direction to explore multi-component systems and is of particular regard in material science as a consequence of their widespread use in technical applications. The distribution of two elements in the bulk and at the surface probably results in new characteristics of the alloy or compound as compared to a simple superposition of properties known from the pure constituents. Consequently, surfaces of bulk- and surface- alloys have to be investigated like completely new substances by means of appropriate material research techniques and surface science tools. [1-6]. 

Small Molecule Chemisorption on Intermetallic Compound Surfaces... 

When the coating metal halide is formed in situ, the overall reaction represents the transfer of coating metal from a source where it is at high activity (e.g. the pure metal powder, = 1) to the surface of the substrate where is kept less than 1 by diffusion. The formation of carbides or intermetallic compounds such as aluminides or silicides as part of the coating reaction may provide an additional driving force for the process. 

There is no intermetallic compound formation and the electrodeposit behaves as a simple mixture of the two metals. It can be considered as basically a stable wick of tin through which zinc is fed to be consumed at a rate lower than its consumption from a wholly zinc surface. If the conditions are such that zinc is rapidly consumed, and no protective layer of corrosion products is formed, the coating may break down, but in mildly corrosive conditions some of the benefits of a zinc coating, without some of its disadvantages, are obtained. 

The major types of interferences in ASV procedures are overlapping stripping peaks caused by a similarity in the oxidation potentials (e.g., of the Pb, Tl, Cd, Sn or Bi, Cu, Sb groups), the presence of surface-active organic compounds that adsorb on tlie mercury electrode and inhibit the metal deposition, and the formation of intermetallic compounds (e.g., Cu-Zn) which affects the peak size and position. Knowledge of these interferences can allow prevention through adequate attention to key operations. 

A series of Be-Pt intermetallic compounds arc prepared during the electrodeposition of Be on Pt from a solution of BeCl2 in an equimol NaCl-KCl mixture at 710°C. X-Ray diffraction of the electrode surface shows the presence of BePt, BcjPt. Electrolytic methods are also used to extract single crystals of Be,V from alloys prepared by arc melting Be and the transition metal in the proportion 15 1. 

Incorporation of Metal In certain cases, metal atoms, after their discharge, can penetrate into the substrate metal, forming alloys or intermetallic compounds in the surface layer and down to a certain depth. This effect has been known for a long time in the discharge of metals at liquid mercury, where liquid or solid amalgams are formed. In 1968 B. Kabanov showed that an analogous effect is present in metal ion discharge at many solid metals. 

For the spectra of Ni, peaks corresponding to Ni oxide and Ni metal are observed in the as-prepared sample [28-30]. After the etching with Ar, however, the peak of Ni metal is predominant. This implies that the state of Ni in the Ni-Zn nanoclusters is metallic, although their surface was oxidized under the atmospheric conditions. On the other hand, the identification of Zn state is difficult because the peak positions of Zn and ZnO in ESCA spectra are very close to each other. Furthermore, the B/Ni ratio determined by ESCA was increased with increasing Zn added e.g., Ni B = 73.3 26.7 and 60.6 39.4 for Zn/Ni = 0.0 and 1.0, respectively. Because no crystalline structure was found except for Ti02 from both electron and X-ray diffraction patterns of the respective samples, it can be concluded that formed nanoclusters were amorphous. Ni-Zn nanoclusters would be composed of amorphous intermetallic compounds through the... 

Blasini DR, Rochefort D, Eachini E, Alden LR, DiSalvo EJ, Cabrera CR, Abruna HD. 2006. Surface composition of ordered intermetallic compounds PtBi and PtPb. Surf Sci 600 2670-2680. 

The electrodeposition of alloys at potentials positive of the reversible potential of the less noble species has been observed in several binary alloy systems. This shift in the deposition potential of the less noble species has been attributed to the decrease in free energy accompanying the formation of solid solutions and/or intermetallic compounds [61, 62], Co-deposition of this type is often called underpotential alloy deposition to distinguish it from the classical phenomenon of underpotential deposition (UPD) of monolayers onto metal surfaces [63],... 

Sandrock, G., S. Suda, and L. Schlapbach, Hydrogen in Intermetallic Compounds II. Surface and Dynamic Properties, Applications, in L. Schlapbach, Ed., Springer, Berlin, 1992, p. 179. 

Schlapbach, L. (ed.), Hydrogen in intermetallic compounds II. Surface and dynamic properties, applications, Topics Appl. Phys. 67, Springer, Berlin, 67,15-95, 1992. 

The reduced Ti species are possibly distributed as metallic Ti across the surface of the powder particles or they may even be present as Ti Al intermetallic compound [89, 92]. The above reaction is in essence almost identical to the reaction of (3.10) for NaAlH catalyzed with TiCl3. 

Reaction 5.45 is at least partly hypothetical. Evidence that the Cl does react with the Na component of the alanate to form NaCl was found by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), but the final form of the Ti catalyst is not clear [68]. Ti is probably metallic in the form of an alloy or intermetallic compound (e.g. with Al) rather than elemental. Another possibility is that the transition metal dopant (e.g. Ti) actually does not act as a classic surface catalyst on NaAlH4, but rather enters the entire Na sublattice as a variable valence species to produce vacancies and lattice distortions, thus aiding the necessary short-range diffusion of Na and Al atoms [69]. Ti, derived from the decomposition of TiCU during ball-milling, seems to also promote the decomposition of LiAlH4 and the release of H2 [70]. In order to understand the role of the catalyst, Sandrock et al. performed detailed desorption kinetics studies (forward reactions, both steps, of the reaction) as a function of temperature and catalyst level [71] (Figure 5.39). 

If we consider Ni as an active site for Ni-based materials, changing the environment in which the ion is immersed is expected to influence its electronic properties. This is in principle the reason for testing a series of alloys or intermetallic compounds of Ni. On the other hand, on changing the environment, bond lengths will also be modified and this will modify the actual concentration of active sites, in turn determining the active surface area. A few examples can better illustrate these concepts. 

It is shown that the semi-empirical model of Miedema and v.d. Woude [66], which was developed for predicting the I.S. changes of Mossbauer nuclei in alloys and intermetallic compounds, gives a remarkably good prediction of the observed I.S. values for the surface sites [67]. 

For instance, the stripping peaks of metals deposited in a contaminated mercury film may be changed by formation of intermetallic compounds. Compounds may form between the metals and the metal of a support that has dissolved in the film, or between the metals and the surface atoms of the metal... 

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