Size Characteristics of the Surface Tension of One- and Two-Component Metal Melts

Abstract

A molecular theory based on the lattice gas model is employed to describe the surface tension of the vapor–liquid interfaces of one- and two-component metal melts. The surface tension of the melts are calculated in the quasi-chemical approximation of taking into account intermolecular interactions of the nearest neighbors. Parameters of the model are found from the experimental data for the bulk surface tension of the melts, which enables the calculation of the surface tensions of vapor–liquid interfaces of one- and two-component droplets with different sizes as a function of their radii. Estimates for the minimum size of small droplets of melts having the properties of a homogeneous phase inside them, which correspond to their thermodynamic stability, are obtained.