Low-Temperature Solution-Mediated Synthesis of Polycrystalline Intermetallic Compounds from Bulk Metal Powders.

A variety of binary intermetallic compounds of late transition metals with low-melting post-transition metals have been synthesized in bulk quantities by reacting molten metal dispersions with fine metal powders in hot polyalcohol solvents. Fourteen distinct intermetallics were formed using this technique: SbSn, FeSn2, Cu6Sn5, CoSn3, Ni3Sn4, FeGa3, NiGa4, Cu9Ga4, CoGa3, Ni2In3, InSb, In5Bi3, InBi, and Bi3Ni. Notable among these are a low-temperature phase (α-CoSn3), textured intermetallic powders with anisotropic morphologies (α-CoSn3 and FeSn2), and superconductors (Bi3Ni and In5Bi3). Reaction pathway studies suggest that the molten low-melting metals diffuse into the larger higher melting powders, forming intermetallic compounds directly in a liquid-phase medium from bulk-scale powders of the constituent elements. Bulk-scale quantities of polycrystalline intermetallic compounds are obtained by reacting molten metal dispersions with fine metal powders in hot polyalchohol solvents. This low-temperature synthetic approach is general, yielding the following intermetallics: SbSn, FeSn2, Cu6Sn5, CoSn3, Ni3Sn4, FeGa3, NiGa4, Cu9Ga4, CoGa3, Ni2In3, InSb, In5Bi3, InBi, and Bi3Ni. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]