Theoretical analysis of reactive solid-liquid interfacial energies

The characterization of reactive solid-liquid interfacial energies and solid surface energies is a pressing problem in materials science and surface science. Based on the concept that unbalanced forces doing work, a mathematical formulation between surface energies and interfacial energies for reactive wetting is presented. The resulting formalism has significant generality in which the equilibrium Young??s equation for solid-liquid interfacial energies is just a special case. It is shown that a solid-liquid interfacial energy at non-equilibrium is always higher than that at equilibrium, and that the transformation of reactive interfaces to equilibrium interfaces is an inevitable, spontaneous process. The numerical range of solid-liquid interfacial energies ?? _sl for a limited, solid-liquid interfacial wetting system was calculated to be 0 ? ?? _sl ? ?? _sg. The calculation methods for reactive solid-liquid interfacial energies and solid surface energies are presented. They are significant for composite materials and weld, powder sinter, package of electronic devices, and other surface and interfacial issues in metallurgy.