Facile Synthesis, Densification, and Scale-Up of Tungsten Carbide in Carbon Fiber Composites

A simple, cost-effective, and easily repeatable method for the densification of tungsten carbide (WC) into nonwoven 3D carbon fiber structures was carried out. Tungsten carbide has a high melting point, high Mohs hardness, and good thermal conductivity, which makes it useful for aerospace applications. Tungsten carbide chemical vapor deposition comes at a high cost, and this method is a cost-effective primary infiltration technique to be utilized before vapor deposition. This method yields highly crystalline microparticles of tungsten carbide spread throughout the 3D structure with densification rates reaching 85% via this method alone. Both large scale (∼78.5 cm3) and small scale (1 cm3) samples were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy post-densification. Scanning electron micrographs and X-ray diffractograms were collected for every other densification cycle.