Interfacial energy of uranium-metal melt boundary

Abstract

The interfacial energy of uranium boundary with alkali and alkaline-earth metals has been estimated by the electron-statistical method. It has been shown that alkali and alkaline-earth metals are strong surfactants relative to uranium. Formulas for polarization correction, external and temperature terms, have been obtained which take into account change of density at the contact boundary. The temperature contribution in the interfacial energy of crystal faces of three allotropic modification of uranium has been estimated. The influence of s-metal melts on the profile of electron density has been analysed.

Keywords

• interfacial energy
• uranium
• alkali metals
• alkaline-earth metals
• melt
• actinides
• allotropic phases