Enhance the properties of CuCr alloy by constructing Gr@Cr core-shell structure

• Published in: Materials letters Vol. 286; p. 129238
• Main Authors: Dong, Yunfan, Leng, Jinfeng, Ren, Binghui, Xu, Xianglei, Xia, Changpeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.03.2021; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Arc melting; Brinell hardness; Copper base alloys; Core-shell structure; Dopamine; Electric arc melting; Electric contacts; Electrical properties; Electrical resistivity; Elongation; Gr/CuCr; Graphene; Materials science; Microstructure; Nucleation; Shells; Electrical properties; Gr/CuCr; Microstructure; Arc melting
• ISSN: 0167-577X; 1873-4979
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matlet.2020.129238

•Gr@Cr was designed and prepared by a dopamine self-polymerization process.•Gr/CuCr25 with Gr@Cr core-shell structure was prepared by arc melting.•The Cr phase size of Gr/CuCr25 decreases compared with CuCr25.•Hardness and conductivity increase simultaneously in Gr/CuCr25. In this work, the core-shell (Gr@Cr) structure was synthesized by self-polymerization of dopamine and then, Gr/CuCr25 (graphene/CuCr25 (25 wt% Cr)) composites were prepared by arc melting process. The results show that the Brinell hardness of the composite increases from 97.5% to 104.5, and the electrical conductivity increases from 42.6% IACS to 49.1% IACS compared with CuCr25 alloy. Because of the core-shell structure of Gr/CuCr25 composite, the Cr phase coated with graphene is hindered by graphene during nucleation and elongation, so that the number of dendritic Cr phase decreases and the number of dispersed equiaxed grains increases, which improves the comprehensive properties of CuCr electrical contact materials.