Superhard diamond/tungsten carbide nanocomposites

We investigated the processing conditions of diamond/tungsten carbide (WC) composites using in situ synchrotron x-ray diffraction (XRD) and reactive sintering techniques at high pressure and high temperatures. The as-synthesized composites were characterized by synchrotron XRD, scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and indentation hardness measurements. Through tuning of the reaction temperature and time, we produced fully reacted, well-sintered, and nanostructured diamond composites with Vickers hardness of about 55 GPa and the grain size of WC binding matrix smaller than 50 nm. A specific set of orientation relationships between WC and tungsten is identified to gain microstructural insight into the reaction mechanism between diamond and tungsten. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3570645]