Uniformly Dispersed Nano-ZnO Particles Reinforced Copper Matrix by Chemical Coprecipitation Method

Abstract

Nano-copper-based materials are wildly applied in the microelectronics and aerospace industries, which not only maintain the advantages of copper materials, but also make up for the shortage of copper. ZnO in ZnO-Copper composite prepared by chemical coprecipitation was evenly distributed in the copper matrix in the form of hexagonal nanosheets. The maximum hardness of the composite can reach a maximum of 119.44Hv, and the minimum wear rate is only 0.6% of pure copper; meanwhile, the density and the conductivity both decrease slightly. The relative density of composite with ZnO content of 4% and 8.% exceeds 96%. The rates exceeds 70% IACS. However, The results suggest that the introduction of ZnO reduces the corrosion resistance of the copper matrix, and the corrosion weight loss of 20 wt.% ZnO is nearly 3 times that of pure copper.