International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials最新文献

{"title":"Work function enhancement and interfacial diffusion behaviour of sputtered refractory MoW alloy thin films for back-contact engineering","authors":"Puteri Noor Safura Megat Mahmud ,&nbsp;Yoganash Putthisigamany ,&nbsp;Megat Mohd Izhar Sapeli ,&nbsp;Vidhya Selvanathan ,&nbsp;Kazi Sajedur Rahman ,&nbsp;Ubaidah Syafiq ,&nbsp;Brahim Aissa ,&nbsp;Mohammad Istiaque Hossain ,&nbsp;Norasikin Ahmad Ludin ,&nbsp;Puvaneswaran Chelvanathan","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.107669","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.107669","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Uncontrolled diffusion and interfacial degradation at refractory metal back contacts remain major bottlenecks to improving the reliability and efficiency of thin film solar cells (TFSCs). This study investigates the structural, electrical, and interfacial properties of Mo thin films, Mo<img>W_0.25 capping layers (Mo<img>W_0.25 CL), and W capping layers (W CL) deposited on Mo back contacts via direct-current magnetron sputtering. Comprehensive structural, morphological, topographical, vibrational, and electrical analyses were performed to elucidate how W incorporation influences microstructure and electronic behaviour. The Mo<img>W_0.25 CL exhibited the smoothest surface (Ra = 3.8 nm) and the highest work function (4.80 eV), which is associated with enhanced surface uniformity and modified electronic structure compared to pure Mo and W CL thin films. Upon selenization at 580 °C, the Mo<img>W_0.25Se₂ interfacial layer displays localized selenide formation with limited selenium penetration, indicating enhanced resistance to selenium diffusion relative to the Mo and W counterparts. The selenized Mo<img>W_0.25 CL also achieves the low resistivity (58.8 μΩ cm) while maintaining high carrier concentration and mobility. Overall, the results demonstrate that controlled Mo<img>W alloying provides an effective strategy to tailor interfacial reactions and electronic properties of refractory back contacts in TFSCs, offering insights into the design of thermally stable metal/semiconductor interfaces for high-temperature electronic applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107669"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145962419","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Thermal shock induced evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties in ultrafine-grained tungsten alloys","authors":"Haowei Deng ,&nbsp;Zibin Zou ,&nbsp;Bin Du,&nbsp;Tao Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.107651","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.107651","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Tungsten (W) has been recognized as a promising plasma-facing material for fusion reactors; however, its practical application is hindered by intrinsic brittleness, limited thermal shock resistance, and insufficient high-temperature stability. In this study, four composite systems—W-ZrC, W-Ti-ZrC, W-HEC, and W-Ti-HEC—were fabricated to systematically investigate their microstructural evolution, thermal shock response, mechanical properties, and thermal stability. Results demonstrate that Ti addition effectively refines the tungsten grain size while scavenging carbon from secondary phases to form Ti-C-O along with ZrO or HEC-O structures, thereby enhancing alloy hardness. In contrast, HEC addition increases the fraction of low-angle grain boundaries, which further rises upon thermal shock. Although all alloys exhibited mechanical degradation after thermal cycling, only W-HEC preserved compressive fracture strain both before and after thermal shock and showed superior thermal stability at elevated temperatures. These findings highlight the distinct roles of Ti and HEC in tailoring grain structure, defect evolution, and high-temperature performance of tungsten-based composites, offering critical insights into the design of advanced plasma-facing materials for fusion applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107651"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145894144","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of different carbon contents on the microstructure and mechanical properties of (Ti,W,Hf,Ta,V)(C,N) high-entropy carbonitride ceramics","authors":"Hui-Ze Li ,&nbsp;Yu-Teng Liu ,&nbsp;Yan Zhang ,&nbsp;Yu-Xin Shan ,&nbsp;Chao-Yi Shi ,&nbsp;Tao Peng ,&nbsp;Bo-Yu Ni ,&nbsp;Tian-Qi Zhang ,&nbsp;Zhen Teng","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2025.107647","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2025.107647","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To explore the pattern of influence that the incorporation of excess carbon in HECN ceramics exerts on their microstructure and mechanical properties, four groups of (Ti,W,Hf,Ta,V)(C,N) HECN ceramics featuring different C contents were fabricated via the carbothermal reduction-nitridation method coupled with SPS at 2000 °C, which had excessive carbon additions of 0 at.%, 5 at.%, 10 at.% and 15 at.%, respectively. Analysis on the phase composition, microstructure, and mechanical properties of the four ceramic groups showed that when the excessive carbon addition was 10 at.%, the (Ti,W,Hf,Ta,V)(C,N) ceramic exhibited optimal mechanical properties (<em>H</em>v_9.8: 23.76 ± 1.20 GPa, <em>K</em>_IC: 4.45 ± 0.30 MPa·m^1/2), which had a main phase of the high-entropy carbonitride phase. In comparison with most reported HEC ceramics and HECN ceramics, the (Ti,W,Hf,Ta,V)(C,N) ceramic with 10 at.% excessive carbon demonstrated superior mechanical properties.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107647"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145894180","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Corrigendum to ‘Study of fracture behavior and mechanical property of WC-6.5wt%co regenerated cemented carbides doped rare earth oxides’ [International Journal of Refractory Metals and Hard Materials Volume 135, February 2026, 107535]","authors":"Youxing He,&nbsp;Chang Jiang,&nbsp;Song Zeng,&nbsp;Yusong Guo,&nbsp;Xiang Wan,&nbsp;Jiuming Yu,&nbsp;Linwei Zhang,&nbsp;Lei Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.107656","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.107656","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":14216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107656"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146032931","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Low-temperature sintering of W-HfC core-shell powders for microstructure regulation","authors":"Chenguang Guo ,&nbsp;Xingyu Li ,&nbsp;En Mei ,&nbsp;Junming Liu ,&nbsp;Hao Xu ,&nbsp;Yuan Chao ,&nbsp;Peng Zhang ,&nbsp;Zhongyou Que ,&nbsp;Lin Zhang ,&nbsp;Mingli Qin ,&nbsp;Xuanhui Qu","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.107676","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.107676","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Carbides as typical secondary particles are effective in strengthening tungsten (W) alloys, particularly at elevated temperatures. However, the addition of carbides generally necessitates a higher sintering temperature for W in the powder metallurgy process, resulting in coarsened microstructures and degraded properties. In this study, W-HfC composite nanopowders with a core-shell structure are prepared by a freeze-drying method to overcome the densification barrier caused by HfC during subsequent sintering. The constant-heating-rate sintering experiments demonstrate that the sintering kinetics are independent of HfC content for W-HfC core-shell nanopowders. Utilizing a pressureless two-step sintering (TSS) method at low temperatures, we fabricated a dense W-0.5 wt% HfC alloy with an ultrafine-grained microstructure (average grain size: 420 nm). Benefitting from low-temperature sintering, HfC particles with sizes below 20 nm are uniformly dispersed within the W matrix and exert a significant strengthening effect on W. This study demonstrates that freeze-drying combined with TSS is a promising method for fabricating dispersion-strengthened W alloys with well-controlled microstructure and properties.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107676"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145962417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Processing and characterization of bicontinuous W50Cu composite produced by entangled fiber plasma sintering (ETFPS) route","authors":"A. Zamani Alishah,&nbsp;M. Baniasadi,&nbsp;G. Faraji","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.107653","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.107653","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Tungsten–copper (W<img>Cu) composites are widely applied in electrical and thermal management systems, yet conventional fabrication methods are often constrained by incomplete densification, weak interfacial bonding, anisotropy, and the well-known trade-off between hardness and electrical conductivity. In this study, a novel entangled fiber plasma sintering (ETFPS) approach was employed to fabricate bicontinuous W<img>50Cu composite. The method involves crumpling Cu and W fibers into highly entangled three-dimensional architectures, followed by compaction and consolidation via spark plasma sintering (SPS). This process ensures intimate interfacial contact, suppresses void formation, and promotes effective metallurgical bonding. Microstructural analysis revealed excellent bonding across Cu<img>Cu, Cu<img>W, and even W<img>W interfaces, accompanied by nearly full densification (∼99.84 % relative density). Remarkably, these results were achieved at far lower pressure (40 MPa) and temperature than conventional powder-based or high-temperature processing routes. The isotropic fiber arrangement generated by ETFPS suppressed preferential alignment, leading to uniform properties along different directions. Hardness values were measured as 383.4 HV in the radial direction (RD) and 409.3 HV in the axial direction (AD), with only ∼6 % variation. Similarly, electrical conductivity reached 65.3 % IACS (RD) and 64.4 % IACS (AD), differing by just 1.4 %. The results highlight ETFPS as a versatile and efficient route for producing isotropic W<img>50Cu composites with superior multifunctional performance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107653"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145894145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of vacuum annealing temperature and time on the recrystallisation behavior of cold rolled niobium alloy C-103 sheets","authors":"Ravi Ranjan Kumar ,&nbsp;Kartikey Sharma ,&nbsp;Varsha Florist ,&nbsp;Namit Pai ,&nbsp;Debasis Tripathy ,&nbsp;S.V.S. Narayana Murty","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.107671","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.107671","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Niobium alloy C-103 is the lightest among the refractory alloy family and is widely used for high temperature applications in aerospace propulsion systems. In the present study, sheets of 2 × 1000 × 1000 mm were processed through cold rolling. However, the cold rolled sheets exhibited higher strength with a significant reduction in percentage elongation (ductility), making them unsuitable for further cold forming process, such as the fabrication of divergent sections of rocket engines. In order to eliminate the residual stresses and obtain a strain-free microstructure, the cold rolled sheets have been vacuum annealed at varying temperatures of 1100 °C, 1200 °C and 1300 °C for 1, 2 and 4 h. Detailed microstructural analysis and mechanical properties evaluation has been carried out on vacuum annealed samples for arriving at optimum annealing parameters. It is noted that the samples annealed at 1100 °C had remnant elongated grains, whereas coarsening of grains was noticed for samples annealed at 1300 °C for 4 h. The samples annealed at 1200 °C for 2 and 4 h had an optimum grain size of 33 and 39 μm, respectively. The corresponding 0.2 % yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and % elongation for 2 h and 4 h condition was 276 ± 4.4 MPa, 385 ± 3.5 MPa, 39.6 ± 3.1% and 271 ± 1.8 MPa, 388 ± 1.5 MPa, 37.8 ± 1%, respectively. Further, an attempt has been made to understand the grain growth kinetics with respect to variation in annealing temperatures and time. The activation energy was estimated to be 792 kJ/mol in the temperature range of 1100–1300 °C for this alloy. The 0.2% yield strength of C-103 material was further correlated to the grain size, as per Hall-Petch relation and the values of σ₀ (lattice friction resistance constant) and k₀ (grain boundary barrier constant) were estimated to be 210 MPa and 356 MPa<span><math><msqrt><mrow><mi>μ</mi><mi>m</mi></mrow></msqrt></math></span>, respectively.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107671"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145979059","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dose-dependent irradiation embrittlement in tungsten: A predictive model based on grain plasticity mechanisms","authors":"C. Robertson ,&nbsp;D. Terentyev ,&nbsp;E. Gaganidze ,&nbsp;C. Chang","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.107686","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.107686","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper presents a radiation embrittlement model applicable to polycrystalline BCC tungsten, in the context of fusion reactor technology. BCC tungsten fracture response is temperature and dose-dependent, due to critical sub-grain plasticity mechanisms and their interaction with brittle fracture initiators. Mesoscale plasticity effects are treated using a comprehensive, close-form analytical expression, accounting for thermally activated slip and cross-slip influences. In practice, the number of slip bands generated in all the grains of a macroscopic grain aggregate is calculated first, for a given plastic strain increment. The results associated with different temperature and dose conditions are then side-by-side compared with corresponding experimental fracture toughness data up to 1100 °C. To demonstrate the predictive model capability, we successfully apply our methodology to the case of tungsten irradiated by neutrons up to 1 dpa. The proposed approach to predict the embrittlement does not use any data adjustment, is based on the SEM-EBDS microstructure of the investigated material, possesses distinctive predictive capacities and is directly applicable in support of advanced design rules to ensure safety during nuclear operation of fusion reactors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107686"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146035165","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Recycling of cemented carbide scrap via molten salt electrolysis and in-situ ball milling coupled with carbonization","authors":"Xia Yang ,&nbsp;Ji Zhang ,&nbsp;Man Wang ,&nbsp;Liwen Zhang ,&nbsp;Xiaoli Xi ,&nbsp;Zuoren Nie","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.107672","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.107672","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recycling of cemented carbide scrap is crucial to mitigate the scarcity of strategic tungsten and cobalt resources. The primary challenges in recycling of cemented carbide scraps lie in their high hardness and excellent stability. In this study, a novel recycling approach was proposed by integrating molten salt electrolysis and in-situ ball milling coupled with carbonization. The phase evolution throughout the recycling process was investigated by combined characterization techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The cemented carbide scrap of WC-23Co was successfully pulverized by molten salt electrolysis, resulting in powders containing various phases of WC, Co₆W₆C, Co₃W, Co, and W₂C. Moreover, recycled WC-Co composite powders were obtained by further in-situ ball milling coupled with carbonization at 800 °C, which was attributed to the microstructure modifications introduced by high-energy ball milling.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107672"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145956984","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Thermomechanical processing induced microstructural tuning for synergistic enhancement of structural and functional performance in WCu immiscible composite","authors":"Peng-Cheng Cai ,&nbsp;Kai-Fei Wang ,&nbsp;Guo-Hua Zhang ,&nbsp;Kuo-Chih Chou","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.107681","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2026.107681","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>W<img>Cu composites combine high strength, rigidity, and low thermal expansion coefficient of W with excellent electrical and thermal conductivity of Cu, endowing them with broad application prospects in a broad application. However, the intrinsic immiscibility between W and Cu leads weak interfacial bonding, posing a long-standing challenge to their high-performance applications. Although the introduction of a third component is widely recognized as an effective mean of improving interfacial compatibility, it is often achieved at the expense of electrical and thermal performance. In this study, fine-grained W<img>Cu composites were subjected to precisely tailored thermomechanical processing (rolling and annealing). On the one hand, the formation of heterointerface-induced stacking faults was promoted, and the substructures introduced by rolling enhanced the plastic deformability of the W particles. Through these coupled effects, load transfer and dislocation motion across the two phases were effectively regulated, leading to a pronounced improvement in overall mechanical performance. On the other hand, the continuity of the Cu phase was enhanced and charge transport pathways were optimized, thereby resulting in improvement of electrical conductivity. These findings provide new insights into the tuning of phase configurations in immiscible metal composites, offering a viable pathway for the synergistic optimization of multiple properties.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107681"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145995331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}