2004 Volume 45 Issue 3 Pages 790-792
We have experimentally found a Sn-Zn-Mg2Sn eutectic alloy with the eutectic composition of 82Sn-10Zn-8Mg (mol%) and with nearly the same eutectic temperature of 454 K as that of the Pb-Sn eutectic alloy. The eutectic alloy was made in air by covering Sn, Zn and Mg with the 59KCl-41LiCl (mol%) composition eutectic melt in an Al2O3 crucible, melting the metals at 1073 K and washing away the alkali-chlorides with distilled water after cooling to room temperature. The as-cast alloy easily oxidized at temperatures above 503 K in air after melting. It was found that the Sn-Zn-(Mg, Al)2Sn eutectic alloys that were made by replacing 0.8 to 4.0 mol% of Mg with Al in the ternary eutectic composition with the same alloying method did not oxidize in air after melting.
