Create
Design Project Gallery
The Effect of Silicon on the Precipitation of Carbon from Rapidly Solidified Nickel-Carbon Alloys
- Program: Materials Science and Engineering
- Course: EN.510.434 MSE Senior Design
- Year: 2025
Project Description:
This project aims to transform the structure of carbon with the addition of Si into Ni-C alloys. Melt-spinning is a process that has cooling rates of up to 10,000 K/s, which creates a supersaturated solid solution of carbon in a nickel matrix in a thin metal ribbon. Heat treatment allows the carbon phase to precipitate out, which with the stresses from melt-spinning and addition of silicon transforms it from a hexagonal graphitic structure to diamond cubic at room pressure. Diamond carbon nanoparticles (50-500nm) have a wide variety of uses, including as an abrasive or catalysis. This system can also be leveraged in additive manufacturing, where structural carbon or diamond structures could be directly printed with no fillers or additives.
Project Photo:
Melt-spinning Ni-Si-C metal ribbon (right) transforms carbon particles (left) into a cubic structure.