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The effects of annealing on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al–Zn–Mg–Cu–Si alloys fabricated by high-energy ball milling (HEBM) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) were investigated. The HEBM-free sintered alloy primarily contained Mg2Si, Q-AlCuMgSi, and Si phases. Meanwhile, the HEBM-sintered alloy contains Mg-free Si and θ-Al2Cu phases due to the formation of MgO, which causes Mg depletion in the Al matrix. Annealing without and with HEBM at 500°C causes partial dissolution and coarsening of the Q-AlCuMgSi and Mg2Si phases in the alloy and dissolution of the θ-Al2Cu phase in the alloy, respectively. In both alloys, a thermally stable α-AlFeSi phase was formed after long-term heat treatment. The grain size of the sintered alloys with and without HEBM increased from 0.5 to 1.0 μm and from 2.9 to 6.3 μm, respectively. The hardness of the sintered alloy increases after annealing for 1 h but decreases significantly after 24 h of annealing. Extending the annealing time to 168 h improved the hardness of the alloy without HEBM but had little effect on the alloy with HEBM. The relationship between the microstructural factors and the hardness of the sintered and annealed alloys is discussed.
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Tungsten disulfide (WS2) nanosheets have attracted considerable attention because of their unique optical and electrical properties. Several methods for fabrication of WS2 nanosheets have been developed. However, methods for mass production of high-quality WS2 nanosheets remain challenging. In this study, WS2 nanosheets were fabricated using mechano-chemical ball milling based on the synergetic effects of chemical intercalation and mechanical exfoliation. The ball-milling time was set as a variable for the optimized fabricating process of WS2 nanosheets. Under the optimized conditions, the WS2 nanosheets had lateral sizes of 500–600 nm with either a monolayer or bilayer. They also exhibited high crystallinity in the 2H semiconducting phase. Thus, the proposed method can be applied to the exfoliation of other transition metal dichalcogenides using suitable chemical intercalants. It can also be used with highperformance WS2-based photodiodes and transistors used in practical semiconductor applications.
Recently, high-entropy carbides have attracted considerable attention owing to their excellent physical and chemical properties such as high hardness, fracture toughness, and conductivity. However, as an emerging class of novel materials, the synthesis methods, performance, and applications of high-entropy carbides have ample scope for further development. In this study, equiatomic (Hf-Ti-Ta-Zr-Nb)C high-entropy carbide powders have been prepared by an ultrahigh- energy ball-milling (UHEBM) process with different milling times (1, 5, 15, 30, and 60 min). Further, their refinement behavior and high-entropy synthesis potential have been investigated. With an increase in the milling time, the particle size rapidly reduces (under sub-micrometer size) and homogeneous mixing of the prepared powder is observed. The distortions in the crystal lattice, which occur as a result of the refinement process and the multicomponent effect, are found to improve the sintering, thereby notably enhancing the formation of a single-phase solid solution (high-entropy). Herein, we present a procedure for the bulk synthesis of highly pure, dense, and uniform FCC single-phase (
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Tin/graphite composites are prepared as anode materials for Li-ion batteries using a dry ball-milling process. The main experimental variables in this work are the ball milling time (0–8 h) and composition ratio (tin:graphite=5:95, 15:85, and 30:70 w/w) of graphite and tin powder. For comparison, a tin/graphite composite is prepared using wet ball milling. The morphology and structure of the different tin/graphite composites are investigated using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The electrochemical properties of the samples are also examined. The optimal dry ball milling time for the uniform mixing of graphite and tin is 6 h in a graphite-30wt.%Sn sample. The electrode prepared from the composite that is dry-ballmilled for 6 h exhibits the best cycle performance (discharge capacity after 50th cycle: 308 mAh/g and capacity retention: 46%). The discharge capacity after the 50th cycle is approximately 112 mAh/g, higher than that when the electrode is composed of only graphite (196 mAh/g after 50th cycle). This result indicates that it is possible to manufacture a tin/graphite composite anode material that can effectively buffer the volume change that occurs during cycling, even using a simple dry ball-milling process.
The automotive industry has focused on the development of metallic materials with high specific strength, which can meet both fuel economy and safety goals. Here, a new class of ultrafine-grained high-Mn steels containing nano-scale oxides is developed using powder metallurgy. First, high-energy mechanical milling is performed to dissolve alloying elements in Fe and reduce the grain size to the nanometer regime. Second, the ball-milled powder is consolidated using spark plasma sintering. During spark plasma sintering, nanoscale manganese oxides are generated in Fe-15Mn steels, while other nanoscale oxides (e.g., aluminum, silicon, titanium) are produced in Fe-15Mn-3Al-3Si and Fe-15Mn-3Ti steels. Finally, the phases and resulting hardness of a variety of high-Mn steels are compared. As a result, the sintered pallets exhibit superior hardness when elements with higher oxygen affinity are added; these elements attract oxygen from Mn and form nanoscale oxides that can greatly improve the strength of high-Mn steels.
In this study, we report the microstructure and characterization of Ta20Nb20V20W20Ti20 high-entropy alloy powders and sintered samples. The effects of milling time on the microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated in detail. Microstructure and structural characterization were performed by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The mechanical properties of the sintered samples were analyzed through a compressive test at room temperature with a strain rate of 1 × 10−4 s−1. The microstructure of sintered Ta20Nb20V20W20Ti20 high-entropy alloy is composed of a BCC phase and a TiO phase. A better combination of compressive strength and strain was achieved by using prealloyed Ta20Nb20V20W20Ti20 powder with low oxygen content. The results suggest that the oxide formed during the sintering process affects the mechanical properties of Ta20Nb20V20W20Ti20 high-entropy alloys, which are related to the interfacial stability between the BCC matrix and TiO phase.
Ni-based oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloys have a higher usable temperature and better hightemperature mechanical properties than conventional superalloys. They are therefore being explored for applications in various fields such as those of aerospace and gas turbines. In general, ODS alloys are manufactured from alloy powders by mechanical alloying of element powders. However, our research team produces alloy powders in which the Ni5Y intermetallic phase is formed by an atomizing process. In this study, mechanical alloying was performed using a planetary mill to analyze the milling behavior of Ni-based oxide dispersions strengthened alloy powder in which the Ni5Y is the intermetallic phase. As the milling time increased, the Ni5Y intermetallic phase was refined. These results are confirmed by SEM and EPMA analysis on microstructure. In addition, it is confirmed that as the milling increased, the mechanical properties of Ni-based ODS alloy powder improve due to grain refinement by plastic deformation.
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In the present study, we develop a conductive copper/carbon nanomaterial additive and investigate the effects of the morphologies of the carbon nanomaterials on the conductivities of composites containing the additive. The conductive additive is prepared by mechanically milling copper powder with carbon nanomaterials, namely, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and/or few-layer graphene (FLG). During the milling process, the carbon nanomaterials are partially embedded in the surfaces of the copper powder, such that electrically conductive pathways are formed when the powder is used in an epoxy-based composite. The conductivities of the composites increase with the volume of the carbon nanomaterial. For a constant volume of carbon nanomaterial, the FLG is observed to provide more conducting pathways than the MWCNTs, although the optimum conductivity is obtained when a mixture of FLG and MWCNTs is used.
A conductive additive is prepared by dispersing multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on Cu powder by mechanical milling and is distributed in epoxy to enhance its electrical conductivity. During milling, the MWCNTs are dispersed and partially embedded on the surface of the Cu powder to provide electrically conductive pathways within the epoxy-based composite. The degree of dispersion of the MWCNTs is controlled by varying the milling medium and the milling time. The MWCNTs are found to be more homogeneously dispersed when solvents (particularly, non-polar solvent, i.e., NMP) are used. MWCNTs gradually disperse on the surface of Cu powder because of the plastic deformation of the ductile Cu powder. However, long-time milling is found to destroy the molecular structure of MWCNTs, instead of effectively dispersing the MWCNTs more uniformly. Thus, the epoxy composite film fabricated in this study exhibits a higher electrical conductivity than 1.1 S/cm.
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Aluminum nitride (AlN) powder specimens are treated by high-energy bead milling and then sintered at various temperatures. Depending on the solvent and milling time, the oxygen content in the AlN powder varies significantly. When isopropyl alcohol is used, the oxygen content increases with the milling time. In contrast, hexane is very effective at suppressing the oxygen content increase in the AlN powder, although severe particle sedimentation after the milling process is observed in the AlN slurry. With an increase in the milling time, the primary particle size remains nearly constant, but the particle agglomeration is reduced. After spark plasma sintering at 1400°C, the second crystalline phase changes to compounds containing more Al2O3 when the AlN raw material with an increased milling time is used. When the sintering temperature is decreased from 1750°C to 1400°C, the DC resistivity increases by approximately two orders of magnitude, which implies that controlling the sintering temperature is a very effective way to improve the DC resistivity of AlN ceramics.
A Nanosized WO3 and CuO powder mixture is prepared using novel high-energy ball milling in a bead mill to obtain a W-Cu nanocomposite powder, and the effect of milling time on the structural characteristics of WO3-CuO powder mixtures is investigated. The results show that the ball-milled WO3-CuO powder mixture reaches at steady state after 10 h milling, characterized by the uniform and narrow particle size distribution with primary crystalline sizes below 50 nm, a specific surface area of 37 m2/g, and powder mean particle size (D50) of 0.57 μm. The WO3-CuO powder mixtures milled for 10 h are heat-treated at different temperatures in H2 atmosphere to produce W-Cu powder. The XRD results shows that both the WO3 and CuO phases can be reduced to W and Cu phases at temperatures over 700°C. The reduced W-Cu nanocomposite powder exhibits excellent sinterability, and the ultrafine W-Cu composite can be obtained by the Cu liquid phase sintering process.
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The effect of the mixing method on the characteristics of hybrid-structure W powder with nano and micro sizes is investigated. Fine WO3 powders with sizes of ~0.6 μm, prepared by ball milling for 10 h, are mixed with pure W powder with sizes of 12 μm by various mixing process. In the case of simple mixing with ball-milled WO3 and micro sized W powders, WO3 particles are locally present in the form of agglomerates in the surface of large W powders, but in the case of ball milling, a relatively uniform distribution of WO3 particles is exhibited. The microstructural observation reveals that the ball milled WO3 powder, heat-treated at 750°C for 1 h in a hydrogen atmosphere, is fine W particles of ~200 nm or less. The powder mixture prepared by simple mixing and hydrogen reduction exhibits the formation of coarse W particles with agglomeration of the micro sized W powder on the surface. Conversely, in the powder mixture fabricated by ball milling and hydrogen reduction, a uniform distribution of fine W particles forming nano-micro sized hybrid structure is observed.
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In this study, Bi-Sb-Te thermoelectric materials are produced by mechanical alloying (MA) and spark plasma sintering (SPS). To examine the influence of the milling atmosphere on the microstructure and thermo-electric (TE) properties, a p-type Bi-Sb-Te composite powder is mechanically alloyed in the presence of argon and air atmospheres. The oxygen content increases to 55% when the powder is milled in the air atmosphere, compared with argon. All grains are similar in size and uniformly, distributed in both atmospheric sintered samples. The Seebeck coefficient is higher, while the electrical conductivity is lower in the MA (Air) sample due to a low carrier concentration compared to the MA (Ar) sintered sample. The maximum figure of merit (ZT) is 0.91 and 0.82 at 350 K for the MA (Ar) and MA (Air) sintered samples, respectively. The slight enhancement in the ZT value is due to the decrease in the oxygen content during the MA (Ar) process. Moreover, the combination of mechanical alloying and SPS process shows a higher hardness and density values for the sintered samples.
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