Self-diffusion in liquid interfaces

Herth S, Ye F, Eggersmann M, Gutfleisch O, Wurschum R. Self-diffusion in liquid interfaces. Physical Review Letters. 2004;92(9): 95901.For studying self-diffusion in liquid interfaces, Fe-59 tracer diffusion was measured on ultrafine-grained Nd2Fe14B which undergoes an intergranular melting transition for low Nd excess. The diffusion coefficient in the intergranular liquid layers is found to be lower than in bulk melts indicating a hampered atomic mobility due to confinement. Well above the intergranular melting transition, the diffusivity in the liquid interfaces approaches a value characteristic for bulk melts