Surface properties of graphene and graphene/diamond composites located at a substrate with tungsten carbide doped by metals composites

Abstract

The basis of the obtained materials was 95% (wt%) tungsten carbide with the addition of about 4.75% Co 0.1% Nb and 0.15% Tl. During sintering flake graphene was added and in the case of the second sample also nano diamonds were added into the top layer. Surface properties of the obtained materials were determined by wettability. The apparent surface free energy was described applying the hysteresis approach. For better description of wettability the equilibrium contact angles, calculated from the Tadmor’s theory, were used. Surface roughness of the obtained materials was examined using the optical profilometry. Generally, the obtained materials have a rough structure in the micrometer scale also exhibiting some nano roughness. The industrial tests show 15% durability improvement of these materials compared to those without graphene.