Alloy Design, Thermodynamics, and Electron Microscopy of Ternary Ti-Ag-Nb Alloy with Liquid Phase Separation

The Ti–Ag alloy system is an important constituent of dental casting materials and metallic biomaterials with antibacterial functions. The binary Ti–Ag alloy system is characterized by flat liquidus lines with metastable liquid miscibility gaps in the phase diagram. The ternary Ti–Ag-based alloys with liquid phase separation (LPS) were designed based on the mixing enthalpy parameters, thermodynamic calculations using FactSage and Scientific Group Thermodata Europe (SGTE) database, and the predicted ground state diagrams constructed by the Materials Project. The LPS behavior in the ternary Ti–Ag–Nb alloy was investigated using the solidification microstructure analysis in arc-melted ingots and rapidly solidified melt-spun ribbons via trans-scale observations, combined with optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) including electron probe micro analysis (EPMA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). The solidification microstructures depended on the solidification processing in ternary Ti–Ag–Nb alloys; macroscopic phase-separated structures were observed in the arc-melted ingots, whereas fine Ag globules embedded in the Ti-based matrix were observed in the melt-spun ribbons.