Influence of alloying on the tensile strength and electrical resistivity of silver nanowire: copper composites macroscopic wires

Composite powders made up of 1 vol. %Ag nanowires (NW) dispersed in Cu were prepared and consolidated into cylinders by spark plasma sintering. One cylinder was sintered at only 400 degrees C resulting in a nanocomposite sample with no dissolution of the Ag NW into the Cu matrix. The second cylinder was sintered at 600 degrees C and the Ag NW are dissolved forming Ag/Cu alloy NW. The cylinders served as starting materials for room temperature wire-drawing, enabling the preparation of wires of decreasing diameters. The microstructure of the cylinders and the wires was investigated by electron microscopy and associated techniques. The tensile strength and electrical resistivity were measured at 293 K and 77 K. The nanocomposite and alloy wires show similar UTS values (1100 MPa at 77 K), but alloying, although spatially limited, provoked a significant increase in electrical resistivity (0.56 mu ohm cm at 77 K) compared to the nanocomposite wires (0.49 mu ohm cm at 77 K). [GRAPHICS]

Automated summary

Composite powders with 1 vol.% Ag nanowires dispersed in Cu were prepared and consolidated into cylinders by spark plasma sintering, allowing for wire preparation. Sintering at higher temperatures resulted in the dissolution of Ag nanowires into the Cu matrix, forming Ag/Cu alloy nanowires. Alloying, although spatially limited, significantly increased electrical resistivity compared to nanocomposite wires.