Development of Y(2)O(3) Dispersion-Strengthened Copper Alloy by Sol-Gel Method

In this study, oxide dispersion-strengthened Cu alloy with a Y(2)O(3) content of 1 wt.% was fabricated through citric acid sol-gel synthesis and spark plasma sintering (SPS). The citric acid sol-gel method provides molecular mixing for the preparation of precursor powders, which produces nanoscale and uniformly distributed Y(2)O(3) particles in an ultrafine-grained Cu matrix. The effects of nanoscale Y(2)O(3) particles on the microstructure, mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of the Cu-1wt.%Y(2)O(3) alloy were investigated. The average grain size of the Cu-1wt.%Y(2)O(3) alloy is 0.42 μm, while the average particle size of Y(2)O(3) is 16.4 nm. The unique microstructure provides excellent mechanical properties with a tensile strength of 572 MPa and a total elongation of 6.4%. After annealing at 800 °C for 1 h, the strength of the alloy does not decrease obviously, showing excellent thermal stability. The thermal conductivity of Cu-1wt.%Y(2)O(3) alloy is about 308 Wm(−1)K(−1) at room temperature and it decreases with increasing temperature. The refined grain size, high strength and excellent thermal stability of Cu-1wt.%Y(2)O(3) alloys can be ascribed to the pinning effects of nanoscale Y(2)O(3) particles dispersed in the Cu matrix. The Cu-Y(2)O(3) alloys with high strength and high thermal conductivity have potential applications in high thermal load components of fusion reactors.