The Promising features of new nano liquid metals; Liquid sodium containing titanium nanoparticles (LSnanop)

Itami, Toshio*; Saito, Junichi; Ara, Kuniaki

Metals, 5(3), p.1212 - 1240, 2015/09

https://doi.org/10.3390/met5031212

A new kind of suspension liquid was developed by dispersing Ti nanoparticles (10 nm) in liquid Na, which was then determined by TEM (transmission electron microscopy) analysis. The volume fraction was estimated to be 0.0088 from the analyzed Ti concentration (2 at.%) and the densities of Ti and Na. This suspension liquid, Liquid Sodium containing nanoparticles of titanium (LSnanop), shows, despite only a small addition of Ti nanoparticles, many striking features, namely a negative deviation of 3.9% from the ideal solution for the atomic volume, an increase of 17% in surface tension, a decrease of 11% for the reaction heat to water, and the suppression of chemical reactivity to water and oxygen. The decrease in reaction heat to water seems to be derived from the existence of excess cohesive energy of LSnanop. The excess cohesive energy was discussed based on simple theoretical analyses, with particular emphasis on the screening effect. The suppression of reactivity is discussed with the relation to the decrease of heat of reaction to water or the excess cohesive energy, surface tension, the action as a plug of Ti oxide, negative adsorption on the surface of LSnanop, and percolation.