Design and preparation of micro-nano dual-scale particle-reinforced Cu–Al–V alloy: Research on the aluminothermic reduction process

Abstract In this study, an innovative idea of preparing dual-phase micro-nano particle reinforced copper-based materials by one-step aluminothermic reduction method is proposed. That is, copper-based materials containing uniformly distributed dual-phase micro-nano particle reinforced phases were obtained by aluminothermic reduction reaction directly using aluminum powder, vanadium oxide, copper oxide, etc. , as raw materials. A systematic investigation was conducted on the thermodynamic behavior of the reaction system for dual-phase micro-nano particle-reinforced copper matrix composites, accompanied by comprehensive characterization of the resultant metallic alloys and slag phases. The results show that the dual-phase micro-nano particle composite reinforced copper-based materials were successfully prepared by aluminothermic reduction method. There are 1–10 μm micron vanadium particles and 60–200 nm nano-vanadium-aluminum master alloy phases dispersed in the microstructure of copper-based materials. With the increase in V 2 O 5 ratio, the size of micron vanadium particles in the prepared dual-phase micro-nano particle reinforced copper-based material gradually increases, and the size of Al x V y phase dispersed in the matrix gradually decreases. The inclusions in the copper matrix are mainly Al 2 O 3 , and the reducing slag is mainly composed of CaAl 4 O 7 , CaAl 2 O 4 , and Cu 2 O.