Fundamentals of Materials Science and Engineering

MSE 20 (B2 and B3)

Vera Marie M. Sastine

 Phenomenon of material transport by atomic motion

The net flux of any species, such as ions, atoms, electrons, holes

In materials processing technologies, control over the diffusion of atoms, ions,

molecules, or other species is key
Application Examples:

Carburization for
Surface Hardening of
Steels

Sintering of
barium
magnesium
tantalate (BMT)
ceramic

Diffusion Couple
- Formed by joining bars of two different
metals together so that there is intimate
contact between the two faces

Before heat
treatment

After heat
treatment

Interdiffusion / Impurity Diffusion

Vacancy
diffusion

Interstitial
diffusion

The diffusion of atoms in one direction corresponds

to the motion of vacancies (or impurity/substitute
atoms) in the opposite direction
The diffusion of interstitials is more rapid, because
they are smaller and thus more mobile. There are
also more empty interstitial sites than vacancies.
The probability of interstitial atomic movement is greater than for vacancy diffusion

If the diffusion flux does not change with time

Diffusion flux, J
- the rate of mass transfer; a function of time
- Mass (of the atoms) M diffusing through and
perpendicular to a unit cross-sectional area A
of solid per unit of time t

Differentially,

diffusion flux for steady-state

diffusion (in one direction)
Driving force* of Ficks 1st law :
Concentration gradient
Concentration profile:
Concentration C plotted versus position (or distance) within the solid x
Concentration gradient:
the slope at a particular point on this curve

*what compels a rxn to occur

The diffusion flux and the concentration gradient at some particular point in
a solid vary with time, with a net accumulation or depletion of the diffusing
species resulting.

Ficks 2nd Law

diffusion equation for non-steadystate diffusion (in one direction)

Solutions to this are possible when physically meaningful

boundary conditions are specified

For example, consider a semi-infinite solid** with a constant surface concentration. Usually the
diffusing material is in gas phase whose partial pressure is maintained at a certain constant.
Assumptions on the system are:
1. Before diffusion, any of the diffusing solute
atoms in the solid are uniformly distributed
with concentration of C0.
2. The value of x at the surface is zero and
increases with distance into the solid.
3. The time is taken to be zero the instant
before the diffusion process begins.

Solution to Ficks 2nd law for the condition

of constant surface concentration

These boundary conditions are simply stated as:

1. For

t 0; C C0

at

0 x

t 0; C Cs (constant surface concn)

x 0 . C C0 At x

2. For
at

**A solid is semi-infinite if none of the diffusing

atoms reaches the end during the time over which
diffusion takes place.
A bar of length l is considered to be semi-infinite
when l 10 Dt

CS - constant
C - concn. below surface
surface concn. X
(varies wrt x & time)

Diffusing species:
The magnitude of the diffusion coefficient D is
indicative of the rate at which atoms diffuse. The
diffusing species as well as the host material
influence the diffusion coefficient.
Temperature:
Temperature dependence of the diffusion
coefficient, D, is

Sample Problem 1:

Sample Problem 2:

Diffusion of Nickel in
Magnesium Oxide (MgO)
A 0.05 cm layer of magnesium oxide (MgO)
between layers of nickel (Ni) and tantalum
(Ta) to provide a diffusion barrier that
prevents reactions between the two metals.

At 1400C, nickel ions diffuse through the

MgO ceramic to the tantalum. Determine the
number of nickel ions that pass through the
MgO per second. At 1400C, the diffusion
coefficient of nickel ions in MgO is 9 x 10-12
cm2/s, and the lattice parameter of nickel at
1400C is 3.6 x 10-8 cm.

Sample Problem 3:
The purification of hydrogen gas by diffusion through a palladium sheet was discussed in Section
5.3. Compute the number of kilograms of hydrogen that pass per hour through a 5-mm-thick sheet
of palladium having an area of 0.20 m2 at 500C. Assume a diffusion coefficient of 1.0 X 10-8 m2/s,
that the concentrations at the high- and low-pressure sides of the plate are 2.4 and 0.6 kg of
hydrogen per cubic meter of palladium, and that steady-state conditions have been attained.

Sample Problem 4: