High-confidence measurement of solid/liquid surface energy in a pure material

Abstract

Abstract A new method for measuring solid/liquid surface energies, with a total systematic and random error of well under 10%, is described. The surface energies are derived from measurements of grain-boundary grooves in solid/liquid interfaces which are maintained in shallow temperature gradients. The gradients are established by an axial heater wire in a cylindrical specimen chamber. Applying the method to highly-purified succinonitrile, a solid/liquid surface energy of 8·94±0·5 erg/cm2 was determined. This corresponds to 37% of the heat of fusion per surface molecule.