Wetting of Graphite and Platinum Substrate by Oxide System with Graded B2O3 Content

This work focuses on wetting two types of substrates (a platinum substrate and a polished graphite substrate) by molten polycomponent oxide system CaO–MgO–SiO2–Al2O3–B2O3 to test the level of interaction at high temperatures. The tested systems were subjected to high-temperature wetting tests in the temperature range from liquidus temperature to 1550 °C using the sessile drop method. A total of four oxide systems were tested with graded boron oxide contents ranging from 0 to 30 wt%. The experiments were conducted in a CLASIC high-temperature resistance observation furnace and an inert atmosphere of high-purity argon. Droplet silhouettes were obtained with a CANON EOS 550D high-resolution camera during heat treatment, with reactive and non-reactive wetting occurring depending on the substrate type. The dependence of the average wetting angles on temperature and time was evaluated, and it was found that boron oxide decreased the average wetting angles of molten oxide droplets. The analyses were accompanied by the SEM/EDX analysis of the substrate and FTIR analysis of the droplets after high-temperature experiments. The phase composition of the oxide systems was evaluated by XRD analysis.