Fabrication and tribo-mechanical performance of Cu@Al2O3 composite

Abstract

In this work, Al2O3 reinforced Cu matrix (Cu@Al2O3) composite has been prepared by electro-co-deposition (ECD) technique followed by powder metallurgy (PM). The microstructure, micro-surface morphology and composition of prepared Cu@Al2O3 composite powder were examined by XRD, SEM and EDS, respectively. According to the XRD, SEM and EDS analyses, the Cu@Al2O3 composite powder comprised Cu, Al and O elements and had a crystallite size of ∼ 24 nm. The microhardness and coefficient of friction (COF) of Cu@Al2O3 composite were measured by a digital hardness tester and pin-on-disk tribometer, respectively. It was observed that reinforcement of Al2O3 into the Cu matrix increased the microhardness by ∼ 35% and decreased the COF by ∼ 28% compared to the pure copper sample. The co-deposition of Al2O3 with Cu significantly reduced the crystallite size of the composite, resulting in improved microhardness and COF. The experimental results indicate that a modified ECD technique is a facile and scalable technique to prepare Cu@Al2O3 composite.