THERMODYNAMIC INVESTIGATION OF THE AG-TE AND CU-TE EUTECTIC ALLOYS

The heat contents of solid and liquid rich-Te Ag-Te and Cu-Te eutectics from 298 K to T (421< T< 820 K and 512 < T < 800 K respectively) were measured on heating (drop method) with the help of a high temperature Tian-Calvet calorimeter. The heat capacity of both liquid and solid eutectics as well as their enthalpies of fusion were deduced. The thermodynamic behaviour of the two eutectics in the liquid state appear very simple. Their strong short-range orders can be explained by one kind of associate the stoichiometry of which corresponds to the single congruently melting compound of the systems, i.e. Ag2Te and Cu2Te respectively. Then, the two eutectics investigated can be considered as reference systems for our further works on weakly associated alloys.