MORPHOLOGY AND COMPOSITION OF THE INTERFACE BOUNDARY OF SODIUM CHLORIDE SINGLE CRYSTALS WITH LEAD

Abstract

The interface between liquid lead and sodium chloride after cooling and breaking the contact was investigated by the electron microscopy and X-ray spectral analysis. Accumulation of surface-active impurities, contained both in the bulk of lead and in sodium chloride was found on the fracture surface of the samples. As shown by the results of the X-ray diffraction analysis, the content of impurities on the surface of the sodium chloride substrate exceeds the bulk content by several orders of magnitude. A significant accumulation of silicon and indium impurities is also observed on the lead surface. Anisotropy of spreading of liquid lead over the surface of sodium chloride monocrystals is observed in the studied samples. The separation line of a solidified lead droplet on the surface of sodium chloride with orientation (110) deviates noticeably from a circle. In addition, on the electron microscopic image of the lead interface after detachment from the substrate of sodium chloride of orientation (110), there are areas in the form of a «cigar», in which the accumulation of impurities was detected. The orientation of these regions coincides with the crystallographic direction of the substrate.

Keywords

• lead
• sodium chloride
• electron microscopy
• interface
• x-ray spectral analysis