The Physicochemical Properties of Complex Silicate Melts Application of a New Quasichemical Model to Surface Tension Prediction (2005-2007)

The surface tension of molten oxides plays an important role in the high temperature processes associated with the production of metals and advanced ceramic materials. At present there is no satisfactory method available to predict this physiochemical property. The proposal offers a fresh approach to this long-standing and important scientific problem with the use of a) new experimental techniques for the measurement of the compositions of melt surfaces and b) new structurally-based quasi-chemical thermodynamic models of silicate melts. These tools will be used to develop fundamentally-based predictive models describing the surface tensions of complex oxide melts and the relationships between surface and bulk compositions