Discontinuous structural phase transition of Sn-Bi melts

In this paper, the liquid structure of Sn100-xBix alloys (x = 0, 7, 30, 43, 80, 100) was studied with resistivity and viscosity method. The resistivity of liquid alloy increases with the increase of the temperature and Bi content, and obvious turning point is observed on resistivity-temperature and viscosity-temperature curves of different Sn-Bi alloy, while the resistivity increases linearly with increasing temperature before the turning point. Moreover, different compositions of alloy show different turning temperatures. These results indicate that temperature-induced liquid-liquid structure change occurs at 700-800 degrees C and is reversible, which may be formed by large cooperative motions for molecular rearrangements. Based on these results explored the melt structure from different aspects, Sn-Bi melt structure can be described and the nature of discontinuity of structural phase transition can be explored. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.