Product Code: ICAL09_506

Transition Metal Coatings on Graphite Via Laser Processing
Authors:
Deepak Rajput, Univ. of Tenn. Space Institute; Tullahoma TN USA
Lino Costa, University of Tennessee Space Institute; Tullahoma TN USA
Kathleen Lansford, University of Tennessee Space Institute; Tullahoma TN USA
Alexander Terekhov, -; -
George Murray, University of Tennessee Space Institute; Tullahoma TN USA
William Hofmeister, University of Tennessee Space Institute; Tullahoma TN USA
Presented at ICALEO 2009

Graphite is a potential high temperature structural material due to its low specific gravity and high strength along with exceptional chemical and physicomechanical properties. However, graphite and other carbon materials suffer high temperature oxidation and are easily eroded by particle and gas streams. One of the ways to improve oxidation and erosion resistance is by coating carbon materials with an oxidation resistant material. The transition metals have outstanding ability to combine strongly with carbon due to their partly-filled d states in their valence shells, and form strong covalent bonds. In this paper we have deposited transition metal coatings on graphite using a fiber laser. The coatings have been characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), Vickers hardness, X-ray diffraction and secondary ion mass spectrometer (SIMS), and the results are presented.