P h a s e D i a g r a m E v a l u a t i o n s : S e c t i o n II

The Nb-Pt (Niobium-Platinum) S y s t e m

S.N. T r i p a t h i , S.R. B h a r a d w a j , a n d S.R. D h a r w a d k a r
B h a b h a A t o m i c R e s e a r c h Centre

Equilibrium Diagram lidifying congruently at 2040 ~ and (9) the fcc solid solution
of Nb in ~Pt with solubility up to - 2 0 at.% Nb at 2000 ~
The Nb-Pt phase diagram was studied by [60Kna], [61Kim],
Llquidus and Solidus
and [85Wat]. The assessed phase diagram of the Nb-Pt system
is shown in Fig. 1. The phase boundaries and the reaction tem- The melting point work of [60Kna] showed that the liquidus on
peratures are based primarily on the work of [85Wat], who in- the Pt-rich side of the phase diagram has a m a x i m u m near 75
vestigated the system over the entire composition range in the at.% Pt. It was later confirmed by [85Wat], who made an ap-
temperature interval of 1000 to 2400 ~ by metallography, proximate determination of the liquidus by microscopic ex-
electron microprobe, XRD, and thermal analysis of 35 arc- amination of the melting point samples with visual estimates
melted alloy samples prepared from 99.6% pure Nb and 99.9% o f the relative amounts of solid and liquid phases present in
pure Pt. The Nb-rich alloys up to 20 at.% Pt were given homog- each sample. Therefore, the liquidus in Fig. 1 is shown by bro-
enization anneals in a vacuum furnace at 1900 ~ for 3 hours, ken lines.
and the other compositions were annealed at 1600 to 1700 ~ The solidus boundaries were determined by [85Wat] employ-
for 6 to 12 hours and quenched at rates of 30 to 100 ~ per sec- ing metallography, XRD, and thermal methods for phase
ond. The compositions and the temperatures in Fig. 1 have an analysis of the samples quenched after homogenization an-
accuracy o f + l at.% and _+10 ~ respectively. neals. With solidus temperatures measured to an accuracy of
+10 ~ and compositions within +1 at.%, the solidus lines are
The present diagram differs significantly from the one publish-
known with a high degree o f confidence and are, hence, repre-
ed by [61Kim] and the previous reviews of [Elliott], [Metals], sented by solid lines. Nine invariant reactions including eight
[Hultgren, B], and [Massalski 1]. three-phase equilibria were identified in addition to the normal
Six nonstoichiometric intermetallic compounds exist: Nb3Pt, melting o f the pure end-members. The compositions of the
"-Nb2Pt," Nbl-xPtl +x, o(Pt, NbPt2, and NbPt 3. "Nb2Pt" is phases involved in the invariant reactions and the temperatures
usually referred to as ~ phase. The two Nb-rich phases, Nb3Pt of equilibria are presented in Table 1.
and cy, are known as Frank-Kasper phases. Terminal Solid Solutions
The equilibrium phases of the Nb-Pt system are: (1) the liquid, Both terminal solid solution phases exhibit considerable solid
L; (2) the bcc solid solution o f Pt in o~Nb phase with a maxi- solubility. [60Kna] observed larger solid solubilities in the ter-
mum solubility of Pt up to - 1 2 at.%, at 2040 ~ (3) the cubic minal phases of the Nb-Pt system as compared to those of Nb
Nb3Pt crystallizing peritectically at 2040 ~ (4) the tetragonal alloys with Rh, Ir, Ru, and Os. This was confirmed by [85Wat].
phase forming peritectically at 1800 ~ (5) the orthorhom- The heat treated and quenched alloys were examined for deter-
bic Nb I _xPh + x phase crystallizing peritectically at 1750 ~ mination of composition b y electron microprobe, XRD, and
(6) the high temperature c( Pt phase of unknown structure, metallography. The terminal solid solution boundary o f b c c Nb
forming peritectically at 1780 ~ (7) the orthorhombic NbPt 2 was established by analysis o f equilibrated and quenched al-
forming by peritectic reaction at 1990 ~ the NbPt 3 phase so- loys in the composition range 10 to 18 at.% Pt. The solubility

Table 1 Special Points of the Assessed Nb-Pt Phase Diagram

Compositionsof the respective Temperature(a), Reaction
Reaction phases, at.% Pt ~ type
L (---). N b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 2469 Melting
L + (~Nb) <--4Nb3Pt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 - 12 - 19 2040 Peritectic
L + N b 3 P t <-9 o ................................... 36.4 28 31 1800 Peritectic
L ~-~Nbl -xPtl +x + o ......................... 43 51.2 38 1700 Eutectic
L + o(Pt ~-) Nbl -xPtl +x..................... 47 57 52 1750 Peritectic
L + NbPt2 ~-~&Pt ............................... 49 65 57 1780 Peritectic
c(Pt ~ Nbl -xPtl +x + NbPt2.............. 57.5 54 66 1670 Eutectoid
L + NbPt3 <--4NbPt2............................ 66 74 67 1990 Peritectic
L <--4NbPt3.......................................... 75 2040 Congruent
L + NbPt3 ~ (ctPt)............................. 82.5 76 80 2000 Peritectic
t ~--~ctPt.............................................. 100 1769 Melting

(a) Temperatureis within_+10~

Journal of Phase Equilibria Vol. 16 No. 5 1995 465

S e c t i o n II: P h a s e D i a g r a m E v a l u a t i o n s

Wetght Percen[ P l a t i n u m
0 10 EO 30 40 SO 60 70 80 90 100
2500 ~ . !. . 9. . 'oC ~ "7"" J ..... , t ......... [, I........ Tr~m~l ~ , ,lr , r , , ....... , I ....... I ........ 7

2300 t ~ ~

? X "'" 2000 ~
2100 1 \ 2040oC"" x 1990ocn 2040oc /
/
oo

, I i i
1500 I I I I Ii

I t [ I
I ~ I i ] 1 (ctPt)
300 I i [ i

.oo t|
J I
/I ~
?"
1~t
'+"
',.,
,{,
'<I~ I<i
,
I~i
'
I i ' I t
i I I I , I
I
I I' I I I I 1I
900 i r 2 r , VT ~ . . . . . . . . ~ .... 1 ,t, ,k, ,t., ........... ,] I .... i Ir I i rl~[.~.,t ....... t . . . . . . . . .

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 lO0
Nb Atomic Percent P l a t i n u m p[

Atomic Percent P l a t i n u m
10 zo :~0 40 50 60 70 ao 90 100
2469 ~ ~ .

230O I ~ "" *"

2100 I ~, 2040 ~ ".. 204.0 oC

1900 % 9" # \
/', X ." I I i s9.4"~,.

2 J /

Ii00- I [ i
| i i I 7
I , I
10 ~g(J 30 40 50 50 70 BO 90 ] O0
Nb Wf'iLz~ I Per';>ent P l 4 ~ t i H u n , Pt

Fig. 1 Assessed Nb-Pt phase diagram.

of Pt in ~Nb solid solution reaches - 1 2 at.% at 2040 ~ but it metastable. It is quite likely that the true equilibrium boundary
decreases at lower temperatures and remains only 5 at.% at is located at lower Nb concentrations.
1150 ~

The fcc ctPt solid solution dissolves ~20 at.% Nb at 2000 ~

Crystal Structures and Lattice
Parameters
and - t 8 at.% Nb at lower temperatures. The metastable coher-
ent structure [85Wat] of the 80 at.% l~ alloy annealed at 1500 The invadant reactions of Fig. 1 are presented in Table 1. Crys-
~ suggests that the solvus boundary of the ctPt phase may be tal structures for the equilibrium phases are presented in Table

466 Journal of Phase Equilibria Vol. 16 No. 5 1995