Thermal stability of ultrahard polycrystalline diamond composite materials

Abstract

Thermal stability of the ultrahard polycrystalline diamond (UHPCD) composite material developed by the reinforcement of the polycrystalline diamond (PCD) with chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond has been investigated in a flow of argon at 1200°C. The indentation, Raman spectra and wear test have been performed to compare hardness, C-C structure and wear resistance of untreated and thermal treated UHPCD. It has been shown that the hardness of CVD diamond in UHPCD attains 133 ± 7 GPa after high pressure and high temperature (HP-HT), while after thermal treatment the hardness decreases to 109 ± 3 GPa, and the wear resistance of the thermal treated UHPCD decreases from 0.17 to 0.6 mg/km. The narrowing of full width at half maximum (FWHM) and shift of Raman peak to lower frequencies of CVD diamond in thermal treated UHPCD imply a decrease of crystal structural defects and compressive stresses, which results in a drop of the hardness of CVD diamond in a thermal treated UHPCD. The higher wear rate of thermal treated UHPCD is due to the lower hardness.