Exploiting graphene and nanodiamond to enhance wear resistance of carbide-based materials by Spark Plasma Sintering

研究领域：制造技术，材料工程-陶瓷，复杂流体和流变学，石墨烯和碳纳米技术，材料工程-复合材料结构陶瓷及其复合材料在工程中发挥着重要作用。有必要找到可持续的制造工艺，以避免气候变化，同时确保材料的性能和寿命。这是非常具有挑战性的，但先进的复合材料工程可以发挥重要作用。探索使用环保加工和制造技术结合正确材料的方法已被证明是遵循的途径。该项目将发展对纳米金刚石、石墨烯和碳化钨体系的基本理解，这些体系已被证明是一种有前途的切削工具陶瓷复合材料。虽然以前已经研究过粗磨原料粉末的加工，但相对较少的信息是自下而上的方法，使用湿化学加工，通过工程设计复合材料的初始成分，并结合新型烧结技术，如火花等离子烧结。接下来将测量这些复合材料的机械、热学和电学性能。以这种方式产生的数据不仅对开发加工陶瓷复合材料及其制造的新方法有用，而且还允许开发用于生产具有改进寿命的刀具的新复合材料。该项目将使用一系列最先进的湿化学方法和新型铸造和烧结技术，如冷冻铸造和火花等离子烧结。广泛的机械测试，如硬度，断裂强度，断裂韧性和复合材料的磨损将被测量。这些性质将通过使用扫描电子显微镜（SEM）和拉曼光谱等与微观结构特征相关。

EPSRC Portfolio Areas: Manufacturing technologies, Materials engineering -ceramics, Complex fluids and rheology, Graphene and carbon nanotechnology, Materials engineering - compositesStructural ceramics and their composites play an essential role in engineering. There is a need to find sustainable manufacturing processes to avoid climate change and at the same time ensure the performance and longevity of materials. This is exceptionally challenging, but advanced composites engineering can play an important role. Exploring ways of combining the right materials using environmentally friendly processing and manufacturing technologies has proven to be the pathway to follow. This project will develop a fundamental understanding of the system nanodiamond, graphene and tungsten carbide which have been shown to be a promising ceramic composite for cutting tools. While its processing by crude milling of the raw powders have been previously studied there is comparatively little information on bottom-up approaches using wet chemistry processing by engineering the initial composition of the composite combined with novel sintering techniques such as Spark Plasma Sintering. This will be followed by measuring the mechanical, thermal and electrical behaviour of these composites. The data produced in this way will not only be useful for developing novel approaches of processing ceramics composites and its manufacturing but also allow developing new composites for producing cutting tools with improved lifetime. This project will use a range of state of the art of wet chemistry methods and novel casting and sintering technologies such as freeze casting and Spark Plasma Sintering. A wide range of mechanical tests such as hardness, fracture strength, fracture toughness and wear of the composites will be measured. These properties will be related to microstructural features through the use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Raman spectroscopy among others.