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High-performance copper reinforced with dispersed nanoparticles

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Abstract

Copper (Cu) has high electrical conductivity and is widely used for many industrial applications. However, pure Cu is very soft and improving the mechanical properties of Cu comes at the great expense of electrical and thermal conductivity. In this work, high-performance Cu with superior mechanical properties and reasonable electrical/thermal conductivity was fabricated using a scalable two-step method. First, Cu micro-powders with uniformly dispersed tungsten carbide (WC) nanoparticles were created by a molten salt-assisted self-incorporation process. A bulk nanocomposite was then obtained by melting the powders under pressure. The as-solidified Cu with 40 vol% uniformly dispersed WC nanoparticles exhibits high hardness, a yield strength over 1000 MPa, a Young’s modulus of over 250 GPa, and reasonable electrical and thermal conductivity.

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Acknowledgements

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. We thank C. Linsley at University of California, Los Angeles for proofreading the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Gongcheng Yao, Chezheng Cao & Xiaochun Li

  2. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Shuaihang Pan, Ting-Chiang Lin, Maximilian Sokoluk & Xiaochun Li

Authors
  1. Gongcheng Yao
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  2. Chezheng Cao
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  3. Shuaihang Pan
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  4. Ting-Chiang Lin
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  5. Maximilian Sokoluk
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  6. Xiaochun Li
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Correspondence to Xiaochun Li.

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Yao, G., Cao, C., Pan, S. et al. High-performance copper reinforced with dispersed nanoparticles. J Mater Sci 54, 4423–4432 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-3152-0

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