PM Materials Prepared from Powders Consisting of Polymer Coated Iron Microparticles

Abstract

A simple oxidative polymerization of pyrrole (Py) directly onto the surface of iron (Fe) microparticles was applied to increase the content of carbon in resulting material. Detection and quantification of the PPy (polypyrrole) coatings obtained were performed by means of pyrolysis gas chromatography (Py-GC). A powder consisting of such particles was compacted. The effect of PPy coating on the compressibility of coated iron powder was analysed. Namely, a set of specimens was uniaxially pressed in a steel die. Compaction pressures ranged from 50 MPa up to 600 MPa. It was found that PPy coating has a positive effect on the compaction behaviour of iron powders in the low to moderate pressure region. At higher pressures, the brittleness of PPy coating adversely affected the compressibility. Both the light and the scanning electron microscopy (LM, SEM) were used to characterize the morphology of coated powders and the microstructure of pressed samples.