Abstract Material design was performed to solve the twin problems of densification together with brittleness of binderless TiC (BTC). Novel binderless TiC composites reinforced by multilayer graphene (MLG) were fabricated through two-step sintering (TSS) with the auxiliary of nano-sized TiC and WC as sintering aids. The synergistic effects of multilayer graphene and two-step sintering on densification behavior as well as mechanical properties has been investigated. The results demonstrated that excellent mechanical properties were achieved for 0.45 wt% MLG addition with a hardness of 24.36 GPa, a flexural strength of 708.9 MPa as well as a fracture toughness of 7.28 MPa·mm1/2. MLG exerted multifaceted influence on the hybrid TiC-based materials: 1) enhancing the densification and suppressing the grain growth simultaneously; 2) improving the uniform distribution of nano TiC and WC particles throughout the micro TiC matrix; 3) facilitating the load transferring from the matrix to MLG by introducing multi-phase and multi-scale strong-weak hybrid interfaces; 4) inducing efficient toughening mechanisms.

中文翻译：

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两步烧结多层石墨烯增强无粘结剂TiC纳米复合硬质合金的制备及性能

摘要 进行材料设计以解决致密化和无粘结剂 TiC (BTC) 脆性的双重问题。以纳米尺寸的 TiC 和 WC 作为烧结助剂，通过两步烧结 (TSS) 制备了由多层石墨烯 (MLG) 增强的新型无粘结剂 TiC 复合材料。已经研究了多层石墨烯和两步烧结对致密化行为和机械性能的协同作用。结果表明，添加0.45 wt% MLG获得了优异的机械性能，硬度为24.36 GPa，弯曲强度为708.9 MPa，断裂韧性为7.28 MPa·mm1/2。MLG对杂化TiC基材料产生多方面的影响：1）同时增强致密化和抑制晶粒生长；2) 改善纳米 TiC 和 WC 颗粒在整个微米 TiC 基体中的均匀分布；3）通过引入多相、多尺度的强弱混合界面，促进载荷从矩阵转移到MLG；4) 诱导有效的增韧机制。