Investigation of specific volume of glass-forming Pd–Cu–Ni–P alloy in the liquid, vitreous and crystalline state

Abstract The thermal expansion of the glass-forming alloy Pd 43 Cu 27 Ni 10 P 20 in the liquid and the vitreous state, as well as in the crystalline state, was measured continuously by means of sessile drop technique. From the data obtained on density and thermal expansion, the specific volume could be deduced as a function of temperature in the complete temperature range from the stable liquid to the vitreous state for this alloy. Comparing these experimental results with the enthalpy function obtained from former calorimetric investigation, a similarity between the temperature dependence of both thermodynamic quantities is observed in the regime of the entire liquid state as well as at the glass transition. Accordingly, the correlation between these thermodynamic functions is discussed on the basis of the free-volume model. The temperature dependence can be attributed to structural relaxation processes and the change in the fractional free volume.