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Order-disorder and phase separation in condensed solutions of two or more components are similar processes that are typically driven by energetics of opposite sign. The components may be: different atomic species in alloys or solid solutions; atoms and vacancies in a lattice gas (1)); adsorbed atoms and vacant adsorption sites on a crystal surface; different molecules in a polymer blend(2) or liquid crystal; magnetic moments in a ferro-, ferri-, or antiferro-magnet; electric dipoles in a ferroelectric crystal. At sufficiently high temperatures; all condensed solutions disorder, unless they melt (solids) or vaporize (solids or liquids) first, because the disordered state has greater configurational entropy, and therefore lower Gibbs energy at high temperatures.
Citation
Materials Science & Materials Engineering, Edited by Saleem Hashmi