Surpassing Cu–Ta Miscibility Barriers Using a High‐Current Pulsed Arc

Abstract

The improvement of many applications in the fields of catalysis, surface and coatings technology, biomedicine, and fuel cells depends on the advances in nanoalloy research. Here, a structural and thermal study of nanostructures of Cu–Ta particles produced using a high‐current pulsed arc (HCPA) is presented. Structural analysis performed utilizing electron microscopy and X‐ray spectroscopy shows the formation of distinctive single crystals with grain sizes larger than 100 nm. Notably, these grains exhibit evidence of a variation of the characteristic immiscibility of Cu and Ta, as found in the bulk scale. The nonequilibrium HCPA method appears to offer a way to surpass miscibility barriers in bimetallic alloys. This technique also allows the synthesis of oxygen‐free powders in sufficient quantities to perform a variety of characterization measurements. The detailed Cu–Ta alloy crystals and oxidation temperature in a high purity oxygen atmosphere and the stability at high temperatures in argon are analyzed.