Constitution and thermodynamics of monotectic alloys - A survey

As is well known, melts that have passed a miscibility gap in the liquid state will, on cooling, solidify to a regulus consisting of two layers. Such bodies are not interesting for technical applications and have rarely been investigated. Genuine interest in demixing systems only arose once it seemed possible to prevent layer formation in zero gravity. However, experiments in space have shown that, even under micro-g conditions, phase separation occurs, though in a different way than on earth. This resulted in an intensive disclosure of the thermodynamics and the kinetics of the separation of liquid immiscible phases. After a discussion of the results obtained, the paper suggests how to prevent layer formation and how to effect a finely dispersed structure to enable technical use.