Fabrication of Al2O3-Cu Nanocomposites Using Rotary Chemical Vapor Deposition and Spark Plasma Sintering
A two-step rotary chemical vapor deposition technique was developed to uniformly mix Cu nanoparticles with theγAl2O3powders, and then the as-obtained powders were consolidated to Al2O3-Cu nanocomposites by spark plasma sintering. In the RCVD process, the metal-organic precursor of copper dipivaloylmethanate (Cu(DPM)2) reacted with O2and then was reduced by H2in order to erase the contamination of carbon. At 1473 K, the relative density of Al2O3-Cu increased with increasingCCuand the maximum value was 97.7% atCCu= 5.2 mass%. The maximum fracture toughness of Al2O3-Cu was 4.1 MPa m1/2atCCu= 3.8 mass%, and 1 MPa m1/2higher than that of monolithic Al2O3, validating the beneficial effects of Cu nanoparticles.