Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Mar 22;15(7):2340.
doi: 10.3390/ma15072340.

In Situ Tungsten Carbide Formation in Nanostructured Copper Matrix Composite Using Mechanical Alloying and Sintering

Mahani Yusoff  1 , Hussain Zuhailawati  2
Affiliations

In Situ Tungsten Carbide Formation in Nanostructured Copper Matrix Composite Using Mechanical Alloying and Sintering

Mahani Yusoff et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

In this study, an in situ nanostructured copper tungsten carbide composite was synthesized by mechanical alloying (MA) and the powder metallurgy route. The microstructure and phase changes of the composite were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Tungsten carbide phases (WC and W2C) were only present after MA and combination of sintering. Higher energy associated with a longer milling time was beneficial for the formation of WC. Formation of W2C and WC resulted from internal refinement due to heavy plastic deformation in the composite. The solubility of the phases in the as-milled and sintered composite was described by the changes of the lattice parameter of Cu. Chemical analysis of the surface of a composite of W 4f and C 1s revealed that the increased defects introduced by MA affect the atomic binding of the W-C interaction.

Keywords: copper matrix composite; in situ formation; mechanical alloying; tungsten carbide.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
XRD patterns of the composite milled for (a) 10 h, (b) 20 h, (c) 40 h and (d) 60 h.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cu crystallite size and internal strain of Cu-W-C powder for various milling time.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Dislocation density of as-milled Cu-W-C powder at various milling time.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Cu lattice parameter of Cu-W-C powder at various milling time.
Figure 5
Figure 5
SEM images of Cu-W-C powder milled for (a) 10 h, (b) 20 h, (c) 40 h and (d) 60 h.
Figure 6
Figure 6
EDX analysis of (a) white particle (X1 area) and (b) grey particle (Y1 area) corresponding to Figure 5a,c, respectively.
Figure 7
Figure 7
XRD patterns of Cu-W-C sintered composite milled for (a) 10 h (b) 20 h, (c) 40 h and (d) 60 h.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Cu crystallite size in Cu-W-C sintered composite at various milling times.
Figure 9
Figure 9
XPS wide scan spectra of the (a) sintered unmilled Cu-W-C mixture and (b) Cu-W-C sintered composite milled at 40 h.
Figure 10
Figure 10
XPS curve fitting for (a) Cu 2p, (b) C 1s and (c) W 4f for sintered composite milled for 40 h.
Figure 10
Figure 10
XPS curve fitting for (a) Cu 2p, (b) C 1s and (c) W 4f for sintered composite milled for 40 h.
Figure 11
Figure 11
SEM images of Cu-W-C sintered composite milled at (a) 10 h, (b) 20 h, (c) 40 h and (d) 60 h.
Figure 12
Figure 12
(a) SEM image and elemental mapping on the corresponding area of (b) all elements, (c) Cu (red), (d) W (green), (e) Fe (indigo) and (f) C (yellow) in sintered compact milled at 40 h and sintered at 900 °C.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Khosravi J., Givi M.K.B., Barmouz M., Rahi A. Microstructural, mechanical, and thermophysical characterization of Cu/WC composite layers fabricated via friction stir processing. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 2014;74:1087–1096. doi: 10.1007/s00170-014-6050-x. - DOI
    1. Islak S., Kır D., Buytoz S. Effect of sintering temperature on electrical and microstructure properties of hot pressed Cu-TiC composites. Sci. Sinter. 2014;46:15–21. doi: 10.2298/SOS1401015I. - DOI
    1. Mallikarjuna H.M., Ramesh C.S., Koppad P.G., Keshavamurthy R., Sethuram D. Nanoindentation and wear behaviour of copper based hybrid composites reinforced with SiC and MWCNTs synthesized by spark plasma sintering. Vacuum. 2017;145:320–333. doi: 10.1016/j.vacuum.2017.09.016. - DOI
    1. Chen W., Dong L., Wang J., Zuo Y., Ren S., Fu Y. Synergistic enhancing effect for mechanical and electrical properties of tungsten copper composites using spark plasma infiltrating sintering of copper-coated graphene. Sci. Rep. 2017;7:9. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-18114-2. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shiri S.G., Abachi P., Pourazarang K., Rahvard M.M. Preparation of in-situ Cu/NbC nanocomposite and its functionally graded behavior for electrical contact applications. Trans. Nonferrous Met. Soc. China. 2015;25:863–872. doi: 10.1016/S1003-6326(15)63675-5. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources