Copper-Ti3SiC2 composite powder prepared by electroless plating under ultrasonic environment

In this article, a new type of Cu-Ti3SiC2 composite powder prepared using the electroless plating technique was introduced. The initial Ti3SiC2 particles are 11 mum in diameter on an average. The Cu plating was carried out at middle temperature (62-65 deg C) with the application of ultrasonic agitation. The copper deposition rate was determined by measuring the weight gain of the powder after plating. It has been found that the pretreatment of Ti3SiC2 powder is very important to obtain copper nanoparticles on the surface of Ti3SiC2. The optimum procedure before plating aimed to add activated sites and the adjustment of the traditional composition of the electroless copper plating bath could decelerate the copper deposition rate to 0.8 mum/h. X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicates that the chemical composition of the plating layer is copper. SEM images show that the surface of the Ti3SiC2 particles is successfully coated with continuous copper layer. The wetting property between the copper matrix and Ti3SiC2 can be improved so as to increase the interfacial strength.