Wetting and spontaneous infiltration: the case study of TaC/(Au, Al and Cu) compared to TiC/Cu

Abstract

Spontaneous infiltration of molten metals in to ceramic skeletons, in the course MMCs' production, is related to improved wetting of the ceramic by metals. TiC is considered a "metal-like" carbide and is supposed to be wetted well by metals through metallic bonding mechanism. Nevertheless, TiC/Cu exhibit an unusual behavior since spontaneous infiltration of molten Cu takes place, while TiC is partially wetted by Cu (θ=90°).In this work we studied the relation between wetting and spontaneous infiltration in the TaC/Au, Al and Cu systems. TaC is also considered a "metal-like" carbide and indeed no chemical interaction was observed at the interfaces of the studied systems.Sessile drop experiments showed almost perfect wetting in the three system but spontaneous infiltration occurred only in the first two (e.g. TaC/Au or Al). Thermodynamic calculation shows the difference between the systems which also has its' influence on the mechanical properties of the MMCs'. Further calculation clarifies the difference between TaC/Cu and TiC/Cu infiltration behavior, but is unable to explain the wetting results differences.Correlation between wetting and spontaneous infiltration in some cases is not straight forward and more studies and calculations on the atomistic level should be done in order to clarify this matter.