Application of distribution functions in accurate determination of interdiffusion coefficients

Diffusion couple technique in combination with the Boltzmann-Matano method is the widely used approach to evaluate the interdiffusion coefficients in the target systems. However, the quality of the evaluated interdiffusion coefficients due to the Boltzmann-Matano method strongly depends on the fitting degree of the utilized continuous function to the discrete experimental composition profiles. In this paper, the application of different types of distribution functions is proposed to solve this problem. For the simple D-c relations, the normal, pseudo-normal, skew normal, pseudo-skew normal distributions can be employed, while for the complex D-c relations, the superposed distributions should be used. Even for the cases with uphill diffusion, the combined superposition of distributions may be chosen. Through validation in several benchmarks and real alloy systems, accurate diffusion coefficients are proved to be successfully obtained by using the distribution functions. It is anticipated that the Boltzmann-Matano method together with the distribution functions may serve as the general solution for determining the accurate interdiffusion coefficients in different materials.