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My time at CSU. Rachel Guarriello. Overview:. Thermo Chemistry Phase Diagrams Ge-Sc system Choi’s project Sightseeing!. Thermo Chemistry. Being only a sophomore, I have not yet taken a class in thermo chemistry
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My time at CSU Rachel Guarriello
Overview: • Thermo Chemistry • Phase Diagrams • Ge-Sc system • Choi’s project • Sightseeing!
Thermo Chemistry • Being only a sophomore, I have not yet taken a class in thermo chemistry • During the first week I was here, Alyson worked with me to tech me the things I would need to know to work on experiments • I spent 3 days learning Gibbs Free energy, energy diagrams, Mixing, reaction orders, energy potential, and the relationship between the Gibbs energy diagrams of a system and the Phase Diagram.
Phase Diagrams • I also had a lot to learn about Phase Diagrams when I got here. I haven’t worked with them much until now. • I had to learn about the relationship between Gibbs Energy Curves and phase boundaries • Common Tangent Lines • I also had to learn how to identify and label the different phases in a Phase Diagram
Phase Diagrams: Other aspects of Phase Diagrams that I had to learn were: • Invariant reactions • 3 phases exist in equilibrium at a single point • Eutectic, peritectic, peritectoid, eutectoid • Congruent melting • A single liquid phase cools to a single solid phase • Reading Ternary Phase Diagrams
Choi’s Experiment: • During my Second week, I began working with Choi on his Ge-Sc binary system experiment • We made a 0.65 mole fraction sample of Ge-Sc • This means it was 75 weight % Ge • Looking to see if it is a eutectic point on the phase diagram at that composition
Choi’s Experiment: Procedure: • The sample was 75% by weight Ge and 25% Sc • The sample was melted in an ARC melter, flipped a few times and re-melted to ensure homogeneity • We don’t have an ARC melter at PSU, so it was really neat to learn how to use one. • The sample was sliced in half by a diamond saw and then placed in a coil of pure Mo wire, and sealed in a glass vacuum tube • I had also never seen anyone prepare or mount a sample in this manner. • The whole thing was placed in the furnace for 15 days
The Ge-Sc system: • After the sample comes out of the furnace, Choi will perform DTA, SEM, EDS, EPMA, and XRD tests on it • These tests will be used to confirm the composition of the sample and clarify the phase relations. • The results will also be compared to the literature results. • So far, the results have been similar to the diagram, but have differed around 65 atomic % Ge
The Ge-Sc system: • Not much work has been done on this binary system • Choi told me that the Ge-Sc system is important when working with aluminum, so it surprised me that there was not much previous work with it. • Only one or two other phase diagrams can be found • The original paper on the system cannot be found, so the liquidus line is inaccurate
Thank You to everyone I was able to work with and spend time with while I was here!!