The synthesis of ultra fine and nanocomposite powders based on copper, silver and alumina

Contemporary materials with predetermined properties can be successfully synthesized by utilizing the principles of hydrometallurgy and powder metallurgy. The results of developing a new procedure for the synthesis of ultrafine and nanocomposite powders based on copper, silver and alumina are presented in this paper. A two-component nanocomposite powder, Cu-Al2O3, was synthesized by a thermochemical procedure, by deposition from an aqueous solution of soluble metal salts, Cu(NO3)2 and Al(NO3)3. A three-component Cu-Ag-Al2O3 powder was produced by mechanically alloying nanocomposite Cu-Al2O3 powder and Cu-Ag powder, synthesized by the thermochemical procedure. The produced powders were characterized by determining the particle specific area, pouring density and fluidness, differential thermal and thermogravimetric analysis (DTA-TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)