Refractory metal and metal carbide coatings are important for developing devices working in harsh environments. The high strength and high melting temperatures of such materials on the other hand make them difficult to machine and manufacture. This talk will present novel methods to coat refractory metal carbides, including molybdenum carbide and tungsten carbide, and their composites using laser engineering of polymer matrix precursors. We will first show a direct pattern method to manufacture 3D ultrathin transition metal carbide coatings by lasing self-assembled metallo-hydrogel. Laser-induced carbides (MoCx/WCx/CoCx) show hierarchical nano-micro porous structures. The sculptured 3D structure can tune the optical and transport properties by engineering the pore distribution. The laser printing process also enables the integration of functional carbide on stretchable and flexible structure such as paper origami which greatly broaden their application in sensors and wearable electronics. We will also present a manufacturing process that utilizes heavy polycyclic hydrocarbon tar as both a light absorber and antioxidant binder to sinter thin films of aluminum, copper, nickel, molybdenum, and tungsten powder using low power (&lt;2W) CO2 laser in air. Several devices are demonstrated, including laser-sintered porous copper with a stable response to large strain (3.0) after 150 cycles, and a laser processed Mo/MoC(1−x) filament that reaches T ∼1000 °C in the open air at 12 V. These results show possible low energy, cost-effective routes for coating refractory materials.

Laser manufactured coatings of refractory metals and metal carbide using polymer matrix precursors

ACS Fall 2021

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