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A Method to Manipulate Surface Tension of a Liquid Metal via Surface Oxidation and Reduction
Published on: January 26, 2016
Theoretical evidence for a first-order liquid-liquid phase transition in gallium
Diego Alejandro Carvajal Jara1, Mateus Fontana Michelon, Alex Antonelli
1Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), Caixa Postal 6165, 13083-970 Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
Abstract:
We report on theoretical results that lend support to recent experimental observations suggesting the existence of a first-order liquid-liquid phase transformation (LLPT) in gallium. Using molecular dynamics simulation based on a modified embedded-atom model, we observe a transition from a high-density to a low-density liquid in the supercooled regime. The first-order character of the transition is established through the detection of the release of latent heat and our findings suggest that the LLPT terminates in a critical point that is located in the tensile-strained domain of the metastable phase diagram.
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