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

EPSRC Portfolio Areas: Manufacturing technologies, Materials engineering -ceramics, Complex fluids and rheology, Graphene and carbon nanotechnology, Materials engineering - composites

Structural 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.