Simultaneous Differential Thermal Analysis and Thermogravimetric Analysis of Si-30B Alloy

Abstract

This article focuses on the experimental determination of the transformation temperature of Si-30B alloy in the temperature range of 25-1820 °C in a flowing gas atmosphere (He, 99.9992%) carried out by simultaneous differential thermal analysis and thermogravimetric analysis (DTA–TG) using a graphite container. The DTA curve during heating showed the presence of two critical temperatures, i.e., T = 1380.7 °C and T = 1532.0 °C. The first one corresponds to the melting point of a eutectic system (Si + SiB6). The high-temperature interaction and reactivity between the alloy and the container during DTA–TG test were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive x-ray analysis. The results have demonstrated that the graphite container reacts with both liquid silicon and boron dissolved in liquid constituent of the alloy to form SiC and B4C, respectively.