Interfacial reaction between solid nickel and liquid zinc

Interfacial reactions between solid nickel and liquid zinc at 450–650 °C for 30–600 s were studied. The morphology and growth behavior of intermetallic compound layers at the interface between solid nickel and liquid zinc were observed and analyzed by SEM and EDS. The results show that γ and δ phases are formed at 450 °C at the Ni/Zn interface, and at 550 °C and 650 °C only γ phase is formed at the interface and some δ phase particles will be participated during solidification on the surface of γ phase layer. The δ 1 phase is absent under experimental conditions. Many cracks occur in the layers due to the difference in thermal expansion coefficients of these phases. It is found that the kinetics of the intermetallic compounds growth follows a parabolic law of time, as controlled by the diffusion mechanism. The apparent activation energies are 113.9 kJ/mol for the growth of γ phase and 125.87 kJ/mol for γ 1 phase, respectively.