Lead-bismuth eutectic

<p>Lead-Bismuth Eutectic or LBE is a <a href="/facts/Eutectic/UFbecnqo">eutectic</a> <a href="/facts/Alloy/I7w7WQWR">alloy</a> of <a href="/facts/Lead/EYljasJN">lead</a> (44.5 <a href="/facts/Atomic_ratio/rT4aRoNm">at%</a>) and <a href="/facts/Bismuth/75FLjkoX">bismuth</a> (55.5 at%) used as a <a href="/facts/Coolant/531hqfUQ">coolant</a> in some <a href="/facts/Nuclear_reactor/8xqjIbge">nuclear reactors</a>, and is a proposed coolant for the <a href="/facts/Lead_cooled_fast_reactor/wwLPggT6">lead-cooled fast reactor</a>, part of the <a href="/facts/Generation_IV_reactor/ywkkrQ5P">Generation IV reactor</a> initiative.
It has a <a href="/facts/Melting_point/MY0w0h0k">melting point</a> of 123.5 °C/254.3 °F (pure lead melts at 327 °C/621 °F, pure bismuth at 271 °C/520 °F) and a <a href="/facts/Boiling_point/E2BK9QoS">boiling point</a> of 1,670 °C/3,038 °F.
</p><p>Lead-bismuth alloys with between 30% and 75% bismuth all have melting points below 200 °C/392 °F.
Alloys with between 48% and 63% bismuth have melting points below 150 °C/302 °F.

While lead expands slightly on melting and bismuth contracts slightly on melting, LBE has negligible change in volume on melting.
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Lead-bismuth eutectic open-in-new

Lead-bismuth eutectic