Specific heat determination and simulation of metastable ternary Ni ₈₀Cu₁₀Si₁₀ alloy melt

Specific heat of undercooled liquid alloys is a critical material property for studies in metastable thermodynamics and heat transfer. Here, the specific heat of Ni₈₀Cu₁₀Si₁₀ alloy was experimentally determined by a levitation technique, and the results were compared with the molecular dynamics simulation data. The maximum experimental undercooling was achieved at 263 K, whereas the simulation showed an undercooling of 607 K. Both the measured and simulated results suggest that the specific heat remains almost constant at the metastable liquid state of Ni₈₀Cu ₁₀Si₁₀ alloy. As the undercooling is increased from 100 K to 263 K, the Gibbs free energy difference is raised by 274%.