Copper Hardening with Fine Iron Particles

The production of sintered bulk Cu-(5-25% Fe) pseudoalloys retaining the alpha-iron phase is studied. The pseudoalloys with a relative density of 97.5-98.1% are prepared by sintering a powder mixture of the metals reduced from their nanosized oxides. The microstructure of the composites represents a copper matrix with alpha-iron phase inclusions of about 20-200 nm in size, formed by 6.5-16 nm nanocrystallites. When iron content is 5 and 10%, the composites show matrix microstructure in relation to copper, providing 47-52% electrical conductivity and promoting higher hardness (to 1380 MPa) through precipitation hardening of the copper matrix by iron nanoparticles. The composites acquire matrix-statistical microstructure with increasing iron content.