Professor Kleppa is jointly funded by a grant from the Theoretical and Computational Chemistry Program in the Chemistry Division and the Metals, Ceramics, and Electronic Materials Program in the Division of Materials Research to continue his research in the study of high temperature calorimetry of refractory materials. The major emphasis of this work is on the thermochemistry of binary intermetallic compounds. The research emphasizes the following areas of high-temperature reaction calorimetry: 1) Thermochemistry of alloys of the lanthanide elements with late transition metals and with noble metals; 2) Thermochemistry of alloys of Group V transition metals with the late transition metals; 3) Mixing calorimetry at 1473 K, above temperatures where fused silica refactories can be used; and 4) New applications of high temperature direct synthesis calorimetry for studies of the enthalpies of formations between basic and acidic oxides. There are a number of applications which require materials which maintain their structural integrity at extremely high temperatures even beyond the temperature at which silica melts. Binary intermetallic alloys between transition elements, and between lanthanide elements and transition metals have excellent refractory properties. Kleppa 's research group is one of the few remaining groups in the United States which performs systematic calorimetric studies of binary intermetallic compounds. This research provides important fundamental insights into the way in which properties of these materials depend on electronic structures of the metals involved.
