Entropy-Driven Grain Boundary Segregation: Prediction of the Phenomenon

The question is formulated as to whether entropy-driven grain boundary segregation can exist. Such a phenomenon would be based on the assumption that a solute can segregate at the grain boundary sites that exhibit positive segregation energy (enthalpy) if the product of segregation entropy and temperature is larger than this energy (enthalpy). The possibility of entropy-driven grain boundary segregation is discussed for several model examples in iron-based systems, which can serve as indirect evidence of the phenomenon. It is shown that entropy-driven grain boundary segregation would be a further step beyond the recently proposed entropy-dominated grain boundary segregation as it represents solute segregation at “anti-segregation” sites.