Experimental and thermodynamic assessment of the Ce–Zr system

• The Ce–Zr phase diagram is experimentally assessed.
• in situ XRD was combined with levitation to study liquid phase equilibria.
• The monotectic Ce–Zr phase diagram reported in data base is wrong.
• The Ce–Zr is a eutectic system, like Nd–Zr and Gd–Zr.
• A consistent thermodynamic description of the Ce–Zr system is derived.

The phase equilibria of the binary Ce–Zr system have been investigated between 900 K and 1800 K by a combining conical nozzle levitation technique with in situ high energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction. From the diffraction data the phase sequences and the liquidus line were determined experimentally. The Ce–Zr system is an eutectic type. The eutectic reaction L↔bcc-Ce+hcp-Zr occurs at T=1113±5 K at the eutectic composition of 1.5±1 at% Zr. Based on the experimental data a self-consistent thermodynamic description of Ce–Zr phase diagram is derived.

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