The influence of Li on the thermophysical properties of liquid Ga–Sn–Zn eutectic alloys

Abstract

The Ga–Li system is very attractive for the development of microelectronic and Li-ion cell applications as negative electrodes. In this study, thermophysical properties such as density, surface tension, viscosity, thermal and electrical conductivity, and thermoelectric power were investigated. Taking into account the intermetallic compounds occurring in Ga–Li, the measurements were conducted in a temperature range of 323–773 K. The experimentally obtained results revealed lower density and surface tension with increasing Li additions. The viscosity, electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power slightly reduced with the addition of Li content to eutectic Ga–Sn–Zn. The opposite was true of thermal conductivity, which increased slightly. The performed Nusselt number and Peclet number calculations for eutectic Ga–Sn–Zn with Li additions show similar dependency as found in literature data for Ga and Ga–In alloys.