Thermal conductivity in Pt-based alloys

Thermal conductivity of Pt alloys with an fee single phase was comprehensively surveyed by employing the laser flash method. Thermal conductivity is dominantly determined by alloy composition and temperature and is scarcely influenced by fabrication condition. An addition of solute definitely decreases the thermal conductivity of Pt, and the conductivity-composition relationship is characterized by a sharp maximum at pure Pt. The Wiedemann-Franz relation held for Pt alloys suggests the dominant carrier of thermal conduction is an electron. An empirical rule is proposed that the thermal conductivity decreases significantly as the position of the solute element in the periodic table becomes horizontally more distant from that of Pt. Thermal conductivity of Pt alloys increases with increasing temperature in a range between 300-1100 K, and the temperature coefficient is found to be inversely correlated with the thermal conductivity. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.