Surface energies of liquid metals

A number of experimental studies have supplied numerical values for these, using either the classical maximum bubble pressure method, in which the maximum pressure required to form a bubble which just detaches from a cylinder of radius r, immersed in the liquid to a depth x, is given by 

The resulting data for liquid metals indicate a systematic relationship with the bonding energy of the element, which is reflected in the heat of vaporization AH°ap. Skapski suggested an empirical equation 

It will be observed that the surface energy is also approximately proportional to the melting point. 

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The surface energies of liquid metals, e.g. Cu, are quite high. 

The surface energy of liquid metals can be decreased dramatically by adsorption of surface-active components, e.g. O or S, either from the gas phase or as dissolved impurities. (Adsorption phenomena will be discussed in Chapter 7.)... 

The Relationship between Surface Tension and Energy of Liquid Metals and their Heat of Vaporization at the Melting Point. J. Inorg. Nucl. Chem. 26, 1349-1361 (1964). 

Our restriction to simple fluids was meant to emphasize general laws and phenomena. For this reason, we did not discuss theories of the surface tension of solids, for which a variety of models have been elaborated. One of the considerations for omitting these was that such tensions cannot be measured, so that a check of the quality is edso impossible. We also consciously excluded the surface tensions of liquid metals, liquid crystals, molten crystals and polymer melts. However, spread and adsorbed polymer layers will be considered in chapter 3 and 4, respectively. For similar reasons, and because most practical applications involve ambient temperatures, we did not extensively discuss critical phenomena, notwithstanding their Intrinsic Interest. Under critical conditions the surface energy - surface entropy balance differs considerably from that at lower temperatures, emphasized in this chapter. 

Tyson, W.R. and Miller, W.A. (1977) Siuface free energies of solid metal estimation from liquid surface tension measurements. Su. Sci., 62 (1), 267-276. Galanalds, I., BiMmayer, G., Bellini, V., Papanikolaou, N., Zeller, R., Bltigel, S., and Dederichs, P.H. (2002) Broken-bond rule for the surface energies of noble metals. Europhys. Lett., 58, 751-757. Galanalds, I., Papanikolaou, N., and Dederichs, P.H. (2002) Applicability of... 

The surface energy of solid metals is approximately 10% higher than that for the corresponding liquid and decreases as the temperature increases under the influence of the surface entropy. Figure 2.6 includes the temperature-dependent surface energy of... 

The surface energy of a cluster is 75, where 7 is the surface energy per unit area. For a liquid metal 7 is identical to the surface tension. The ... 

In Figure 6.7, different interfacial tensions or energies of metals are correlated with the fusion temperature in the form 7 fus-Vrm. In general the ratio of the average surface energy of the solid to the surface tension of the liquid is around 1.2... 

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