Synthesis of Vanadium-Vanadium Carbide in-situ nanocomposites by high energy ball milling and spark plasma sintering

In the present work, Vanadium-Vanadium Carbide (V-V2C) in-situ nanocomposites were synthesized by mechanically milling vanadium powders with 0.5 wt.% stearic acid. Milled powders were consolidated using spark plasma sintering at 1150, 1250 and 1350°C for 10 min. Phase and morphology of the milled powders were studied using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. X-ray diffraction analysis of 10 h milled powder shows the evolution of amorphous phase. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy studies on milled powder shows the presence of carbon, which could be due to the decomposition of stearic acid during milling. Degree of crystallinity of milled powder was confirmed using the selective area electron diffraction pattern. X-ray diffraction analysis of sintered samples indicate sharp peaks from vanadium and vanadium carbide (V2C), endorsing amorphous to nanocrystalline transformation. Micro-hardness value of sintered samples increases with increasing sintering temperature