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Effect of Reduced Graphene Oxide on the Properties of Cu – Zr – La Alloy for Electrical Contacts

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Metal Science and Heat Treatment Aims and scope

RGO/Cu – Zr – La alloy produced by repeated pressing and sintering is studied. The effect of the reduced graphene oxide (RGO), Zr and La components on the microstructure, mechanical properties, conductivity, and oxidation resistance of the alloy is studied. It is shown that precipitation of RGO and Zr on grain boundaries hinders displacement of the grain boundaries. The mechanical characteristics of the RGO/Cu – Zr – La alloy grow as a result of redistribution of high loads and the Orowan mechanism. As compared to pure Cu, the microhardness and the rupture strength of alloy RGO/Cu – Zr – La increases by 51.4% and 27.1% respectively. The oxidation resistance of the alloy increases too. The main causes of these effects are the layer of lanthanum oxide surrounding the Cu particles and the barrier effect of the RGO lamellas between oxygen and the Cu matrix.

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Notes

  1. IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard) is the ratio (in %) of the conductivity of the material studied to that of pure copper at 20°C.

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The authors are obliged to the anonymous reviewers for extremely helpful comments and would like to acknowledge the support from the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangxi Province (Grant No. 20171BAB206006), the Key Project of the Science and Technology Project of the Jiangxi Provincial Education Department (Grant No. GJJ160678), the Foundation of the Jiangxi Educational Committee (GJJ160684, GJJ161363), and the Key Laboratory of Nondestructive Testing of the Ministry of Education (ZD201529006).

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Translated from Metallovedenie i Termicheskaya Obrabotka Metallov, No. 3, pp. 50 – 54, March, 2020.

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Cai, R., Li, G., Hu, L. et al. Effect of Reduced Graphene Oxide on the Properties of Cu – Zr – La Alloy for Electrical Contacts. Met Sci Heat Treat 62, 229–233 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11041-020-00540-1

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