Preparation of C u ₂ O ‐ C u Cermets by In Situ Reduction Method

C u ₂ O ‐ C u cermets were prepared with sintering the mixture of graphite and C u ₂ O powders. The sintering process, microstructures, mechanical property, and sintering kinetics were investigated. The results show that the C u was mainly derived from the graphite reduced C u ₂ O . Meanwhile, small amount of polyvinyl butyral addition will lead to a higher C u content than calculated value. The sintering parameters were optimized with temperature of 1050°C and soaking for 5 h. The relative density and compressive strength of the cermets increase with increasing C u content because of the lubricating effect of graphite and high temperature plastic deformation of C u.