Thermodynamic description of the binary Cu–Zr system

The binary Cu–Zr system is an important material for various implementations. The copper–zirconium alloy is one of the best known transition metal–metal binary system which may be obtained in a glassy state by conventional melt-spinning technique over a wide range of composition. On other hand, substitution of Zr for Al in the CuZnAl oxide system was found to improve the catalytic performance during oxidative steam reforming of methanol. In these cases the knowledge of phase equilibria and thermodynamic properties of the binary Cu–Zr system seems to be important for an industry. A new thermodynamic description of this system was proposed based on Calphad method. A good agreement between experimental information and calculation was found.

► Using substitional solution with temperature dependency of enthalpy of melting for describing the liquid phase. ► Using new available experimental information about enthalpy of mixing of the liquid phase. ► Using experimental information about chemical potential of Zr in solid phases. This information was not used in previous optimization of the Cu–Zr system (except Kang and Jung's [38] work).