Physical Chemistry of Ceramic-Metal Interface Formation

The formation and microstructure of the interface in ceramic-metal systems is discussed. Surface phenomena control wetting in non reactive systems as well as the transitions from non reactive to reactive systems. For reactive systems phase diagrams predict the final equilibrium state. However, the intermediate stage, during which the diffusion path is built up and exists as a series of steady states, is controlled by diffusion kinetics, which are taken into account to understand the details of the morphology of the reaction zone observed in varous SiC-metal systems.