Decreasing the Grain Boundary Diffusivity in Binary Alloys with Increasing Temperature

An interfacial thermodynamic model predicts that the interplay of grain boundary (GB) premelting, prewetting, and retrograde solubility in a binary alloy can lead to a decrease in the GB diffusivity with increasing temperature. This counterintuitive prediction is experimentally confirmed for a single-phase, Mo +0.5 at. % Ni alloy. This study calls for a reappraisal of the classical GB adsorption (segregation) theories to consider the coupling with structural disordering, and it critically supports GB premelting and prewetting theories with broad applications.