Module 2
Diffusion
Diffusion
Diffusion is a process of mass transport by
atomic movement under the influence of
thermal energy and a concentration gradient.
Diffusion is the phenomenon of material
transport by atomic motion.
Atoms move from higher to lower
concentration region.
If this movement is from one element to
another e.g. Cu to Ni, then it is termed inter
diffusion / impurity diffusion.
If the movement is within similar atoms as in
pure metals, it is termed self-diffusion.
Cont…
Volume diffusion
The atoms move through the crystal from one
regular or interstitial site to another.
Because of the surrounding atoms, the activation
energy is large and the rate of diffusion is
relatively slow.
Grain boundary diffusion
Atoms at the grain boundaries diffuse
Atoms diffuse easily because the atom packing is
disordered and less dense in the grain
boundaries
Surface diffusion
Cont…
Definition of terms
Diffusion Flux (J)
▪ Mass flow per unit area per unit time.
▪ Number of atoms of one plane moving to unit
area of another plane per unit time.
Concentration Gradient (dC/dx)
▪ When Concentration of an element (C) is
plotted versus position within the solid, the
resulting curve is concentration profile, and
the slope of the curve is concentration
gradient.
Cont…
Terms (cont…)
Steady state and Non-steady state
diffusion
▪ In steady state, the diffusion flux doesn’t
change with time.
▪ In non-steady state diffusion, at any given
instant, the flux varies with time.
Diffusion Co-efficient/Diffusivity (D)
▪ It is an index of the rate or intensity at which
the atoms diffuse.
Cont…
Terms (cont…)
Activation Energy (Qv)
▪ The energy required by an atom to overcome
barriers and resistance to atomic movements, is
known as activation energy.
Diffusion Couple
▪ Many reactions and processes that are important in
the treatment of materials rely on the transfer of
mass either within a specific solid or from a liquid /
gas or another solid phase.
▪ Accomplished by diffusion
▪ This phenomenon is demonstrated with the use of a
diffusion couple, which is formed by keeping two
Cont…
Diffusion mechanism
Diffusion of atoms involves movement in
steps from one lattice site to the
another.
For an atom to make such a move, two
conditions must be met
▪ There must be an empty adjacent site.
▪ The atoms must have sufficient energy to
break bonds with its neighboring atoms.
Cont…
Vacancy Diffusion
This mechanism involves movement of
atoms from a regular lattice site to an
adjacent vacancy.
Since vacancy and atoms exchange
position, the vacancy flux is in the
opposite direction.
Cont…
Interstitial Diffusion
This mechanism involves migration of
atoms from one interstitial site to a
neighboring empty interstitial site.
This mechanism is more prevalent for
impurity atoms such as hydrogen,
carbon, nitrogen, oxygen which are small
enough to fit in to an interstitial position.
For substitutional diffusion atoms
exchange their places directly or along a
ring (ring diffusion mechanism).
Cont…
Cont…
According to Arrhenius type behavior
where
nv – Number of vacancies per cm3
n – Number of atoms per cm3
Qv – Energy required to produce one mole of
vacancies in cal/mol or Joules/mol
R – Gas constant (8.31 Joules/mol K or 1.98
cal/Mol K)
T – Temperature in Kelvin (K).
Fick’s Law of Diffusion
Fick’sfirst law for steady state
diffusion
At steady state diffusion, diffusion flux is
proportional to concentration gradient.
Cont…
Fick’s
second law for non-steady
state diffusion
Cont…
Cont…
Factors affecting diffusion
Temperature
Nature of diffusing species
Crystal structure
Presence of crystal imperfections
Grain size
Impurities