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

EPSRC的投资领域：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至关重要的作用。需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。这是极具挑战性的，但先进的复合材料工程可以发挥重要作用。探索使用环境友好的加工和制造技术组合正确材料的方法已被证明是可行的途径。该项目将加深对纳米金刚石、石墨烯和碳化钨系统的基本了解，这些材料已被证明是一种很有前途的刀具陶瓷复合材料。虽然以前对其原料粉末的粗磨处理进行了研究，但通过工程设计复合材料的初始组成并结合新型烧结技术(如放电等离子烧结)，采用自下而上的湿化学方法处理复合材料的信息相对较少。随后将测量这些复合材料的机械、热学和电学性能。这种方法产生的数据不仅将有助于开发加工陶瓷复合材料及其制造的新方法，而且还将有助于开发新的复合材料，以生产更高寿命的刀具。该项目将使用一系列最先进的湿化学方法和新的铸造和烧结技术，如冷冻铸造和放电等离子烧结。将进行广泛的力学测试，如硬度、断裂强度、断裂韧性和复合材料的磨损。这些特性将通过使用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和拉曼光谱等手段与微观结构特征相关联。

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.