NANOCOMPOSITE POWDERS FOR NEW CONTACT MATERIALS BASED ONCOPPER AND ALUMINA

Abstract

This paper is a contribution to characterization of Cu-Al2O3 powders with nanostructure designed for the production of dispersion strengthened contact materials. New materials with predetermined properties can be successfully synthesized by utilizing the principles of hydrometallurgy and powder metallurgy. The results show a development of a new procedure for the synthesis. The applied characterization methods were differential thermal and thermogravimetric analysis (DTA-TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM): Focused Ion Beam (FIB) and Analytical Electron Microscopy (AEM). Nanostructure characteristics, particle size in range 20-50 nm, and uniform distribution of dispersoide in copper matrix were validated.

Keywords

• electrical contacts
• copper
• alumina
• nanocomposites
• characterization