A model for the metal-non-metal transition in metal-molten-salt solutions

Summary We outline a theory for the metal-non-metal transition occurring in solutions of alkali metals in molten alkali halides as governed by a balance between the binding of ionic clusters by localized electrons and the excess free energy of an ionic assembly screened by metallic electrons. In the model the transition is driven by the composition dependence of the screening length. The theory is amenable to an analytic solution within the mean spherical approximation when Thomas-Fermi screening is used and the ions are described by charged hard spheres.