Cu-Mn compacts are fabricated by the pulsed current activated sintering method (PCAS) for sputtering target application. For fabricating the compacts, optimized sintering conditions such as the temperature, pulse ratio, pressure, and heating rate are controlled during the sintering process. The final sintering temperature and heating rate required to fabricate the target materials having high density are 700oC and 80oC/min, respectively. The heating directly progresses up to 700oC with a 3 min holding time. The sputtering target materials having high relative density of 100% are fabricated by employing a uniaxial pressure of 60 MPa and a sintering temperature of 700oC without any significant change in the grain size. Also, the shrinkage displacement of the Cu-Mn target materials considerably increases with an increase in the pressure at sintering temperatures up to 700oC.
A bulk-type Ta material is fabricated using the kinetic spray process and its microstructure and physical properties are investigated. Ta powder with an angular size in the range 9-37 μm (purity 99.95%) is sprayed on a Cu plate to form a coating layer. As a result, ~7 mm-sized bulk-type high-density material capable of being used as a sputter material is fabricated. In order to assess the physical properties of the thick coating layer at different locations, the coating material is observed at three different locations (surface, center, and interface). Furthermore, a vacuum heat treatment is applied to the coating material to reduce the variation of physical properties at different locations of the coating material and improve the density. OM, Vickers hardness test, SEM, XRD, and EBSD are implemented for analyzing the microstructure and physical properties. The fabricated Ta coating material produces porosity of 0.11~0.12%, hardness of 311~327 Hv, and minor variations at different locations. In addition, a decrease in the porosity and hardness is observed at different locations upon heat treatment.
Niobium is one of the most important and rarest metals, and is used in the electronic and energy industries. However, it’s extremely high melting point and oxygen affinity limits the manufacture of Nb coating materials. Here, a Nb coating material is manufactured using a kinetic spray process followed by hot isotactic pressing to improve its properties. OM (optical microscope), XRD (X-ray diffraction), SEM (scanning electron microscopy), and Vickers hardness and EPMA (electron probe micro analyzer) tests are employed to investigate the macroscopic properties of the manufactured Nb materials. The powder used to manufacture the material has angular-shaped particles with an average particle size of 23.8 μm. The porosity and hardness of the manufactured Nb material are 0.18% and 221 Hv, respectively. Additional HIP is applied to the manufactured Nb material for 4 h under an Ar atmosphere after which the porosity decreases to 0.08% and the hardness increases to 253 Hv. Phase analysis after the HIP shows the presence of only pure Nb. The study also discusses the possibility of using the manufactured Nb material as a sputtering target.
The microstructural properties and electrical characteristics of sputtering films deposited with a Cu-Ga target are analyzed. The Cu-Ga target is prepared using the cold spray process and shows generally uniform composition distributions, as suggested by secondary ion mass spectrometer (SIMS) data. Characteristics of the sputtered Cu-Ga films are investigated at three positions (top, center and bottom) of the Cu-Ga target by X-ray diffraction (XRD), SIMS, 4-point probe and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis methods. The results show that the Cu-Ga films are composed of hexagonal and unknown phases, and they have similar distributions of composition and resistivity at the top, center, and bottom regions of the Cu-Ga target. It demonstrates that these films have uniform properties regardless of the position on the Cu-Ga target. In conclusion, the cold spray process is expected to be a useful method for preparing sputter targets.
Powder injection molding (PIM), which combines the advantages of powder metallurgy and plastic injection molding technologies, has become one of the most efficient methods for the net-shape production of both metal and ceramic components. In this work, plasma display panel glass bodies are prepared by the PIM process. After sintering, the hot isostatic pressing (HIP) process is adopted for improving the density and mechanical properties of the PIMed glass bodies. The mechanical and thermal behaviors of the prepared specimens are analyzed through bending tests and dilatometric analysis, respectively. After HIPing, the flexural strength of the prepared glass body reaches up to 92.17 MPa, which is 1.273 and 2.178 times that of the fused glass body and PIMed bodies, respectively. Moreover, a thermal expansion coefficient of 7.816 × 10−6/oC is obtained, which coincides with that of the raw glass powder (7.5-8.0 × 10−6/oC), indicating that the glass body is fully densified after the HIP process.
10 wt.% and 20 wt.%Li-TiO2 composite powders are synthesized by a sol-gel method using titanium isopropoxide and Li2CO3 as precursors. The as-received amorphous 10 wt.%Li-TiO2 composite powders crystallize into the anatase-type crystal structure upon calcination at 450oC, which then changes to the rutile phase at 750oC. The asreceived 20 wt%Li-TiO2 composite powders, on the other hand, crystallize into the anatase-type structure. As the calcination temperature increases, the anatase TiO2 phase gets transformed to the LiTiO2 phase. The peaks for the samples obtained after calcination at 900oC mainly exhibit the LiTiO2 and Li2TiO3 phases. For a comparison of the photocatalytic activity, 10 wt.% and 20 wt.% Li-TiO2 composite powders calcined at 450oC, 600oC, and 750oC are used. The 20 wt.%Li-TiO2 composite powders calcined at 600oC show excellent efficiency for the removal of methylorange
BaTiO3-coated Fe nanofibers are synthesized via a three-step process. α-Fe2O3 nanofibers with an average diameter of approximately 200 nm are first prepared using an electrospinning process followed by a calcination step. The BaTiO3 coating layer on the nanofiber is formed by a sol-gel process, and a thermal reduction process is then applied to the core-shell nanofiber to selectively reduce the α-Fe2O3 to Fe. The thickness of the BaTiO3 shell is controlled by varying the reaction time. To evaluate the electromagnetic (EM) wave-absorbing abilities of the BaTiO3@Fe nanofiber, epoxy-based composites containing the nanofibers are fabricated. The composites show excellent EM wave absorption properties where the power loss increases to the high frequency region without any degradation. Our results demonstrate that the BaTiO3@Fe nanofibers obtained in this work are attractive candidates for electromagnetic wave absorption applications.
Waste SiC powders obtained from silicon wafer sludge have very low density and a narrow particle size distribution of 10-20 μm. A scarce yield of C and Si is expected when SiC powders are incorporated into the Fe melt without briquetting. Here, the briquetting variables of the SiC powders are studied as a function of the sintering temperature, pressure, and type and contents of the binders to improve the yield. It is experimentally confirmed that Si and C from the sintered briquette can be incorporated effectively into the Fe melt when the waste SiC powders milled for 30 min with 20 wt.% Fe binder are sintered at 1100oC upon compaction using a pressure of 250 MPa. XRF-WDS analysis shows that an yield of about 90% is obtained when the SiC briquette is kept in the Fe melt at 1650oC for more than 1 h.
The present study demonstrates the effect of freezing conditions on the pore structure of porous Cu-10 wt.% Sn prepared by freeze drying of CuO-SnO2/camphene slurry. Mixtures of CuO and SnO2 powders are prepared by ball milling for 10 h. Camphene slurries with 10 vol.% of CuO-SnO2 are unidirectionally frozen in a mold maintained at a temperature of -30oC for 1 and 24 h, respectively. Pores are generated by the sublimation of camphene at room temperature. After hydrogen reduction and sintering at 650oC for 2 h, the green body of the CuO-SnO2 is completely converted into porous Cu-Sn alloy. Microstructural observation reveals that the sintered samples have large pores which are aligned parallel to the camphene growth direction. The size of the large pores increases from 150 to 300 μm with an increase in the holding time. Also, the internal walls of the large pores contain relatively small pores whose size increases with the holding time. The change in pore structure is explained by the growth behavior of the camphene crystals and rearrangement of the solid particles during the freezing process.
This study focuses on fabricating silver flake powder by a mechanical milling process and investigating the formation of flake-shaped particles during milling. The silver flake powder is fabricated by varying the mechanical milling parameters such as the amount of powder, ball size, impeller rotation speed, and milling time of the attrition ballmill. The particle size of the silver flake powder decreases with increasing amount of powder; however, it increases with increasing impeller rotation speed. The change in the particle size of the silver flake powder is analyzed based on elastic collision between the balls, taking energy loss of the balls due to the powder into consideration. The change in the particle size of the silver flake powder with mechanical milling parameters is consistent with the change in the diameter of the elastic deformation contact area of the ball, due to the collision between the balls, with milling parameters. The flake-shaped silver particles are formed at the elastic deformation contact area of the ball due to the collision. Keywords: Flake powder, Milling, Ball collision, Elastic deformation