Study on preparation and properties of molybdenum alloys reinforced by nano-sized ZrO2 particles

The nano-sized ZrO2-reinforced Mo alloy was prepared by a hydrothermal method and a subsequent powder metallurgy process. During the hydrothermal process, the nano-sized ZrO2 particles were added into the Mo powder via the hydrothermal synthesis. The grain size of Mo powder decreases obviously with the addition of ZrO2 particles, and the fine-grain sintered structure is obtained correspondingly due to hereditation. In addition to a few of nano-sized ZrO2 particles in grain boundaries or sub-boundaries, most are dispersed in grains. The tensile strength and yield strength have been increased by 32.33 and 53.76 %.