Activity Measurements of Mg in the Ternary Cu-Mg-Si System Using Thermogravimetric Knudsen Effusion Method

The high vapor pressure of Mg in comparison with Cu and Si enables the use of thermogravimetric Knudsen effusion method (KEM) to determine the thermodynamic properties of binary Cu-Mg, Mg-Si, and ternary Cu-Mg-Si alloys. In the current study, the weight loss of solid Mg with time has been determined at different constant temperatures between 705 K and 788 K (432 °C and 515 °C) by using KEM, and from these diagrams, the sublimation rate of Mg was calculated. By introducing the sublimation rates into the equation derived from the kinetic gas theory, the enthalpy change of sublimation reaction of Mg at the experimental temperatures was calculated to be 147.5 ± 6.5 kJ mol⁻¹, which is close to the 143.8 ± 0.5 kJ mol⁻¹ calculated using the thermodynamic data available in the literature. Similar procedure was also applied to the binary Cu-Mg, Mg-Si, and ternary Cu-Mg-Si alloys where the activities of Mg with respect to the Mg wt pct with W _Cu:W _Si = 20:80 were calculated. The diversion points in the activity–composition diagrams gave the phase boundary compositions in the phase diagrams. The phase boundary compositions of Mg in the alloys determined using KEM were in good agreement with the known binary and the constructed ternary phase diagram using FactSage thermochemical software and databases.