Cold Spray Deposition of mechanically alloyed nanostructured Cu-Ni-Fe powders

Mechanical alloying processes open the door for the production of nanostructured powders that can be very valuable as electrode materials. For instance, consolidated mechanically alloyed nanostructured Cu-Ni-Fe powders offer promising performance as O₂-evolving anodes for the production of aluminum.  Cold spray, with its ability to retain the microstructure and properties of the feedstock powder in the sprayed coating, appears as a promising scale-up consolidation method for such powder. However, many challenges have to be faced to obtain coatings with good mechanical properties.

Mechanically alloyed nanostructured Cu-Ni-Fe powders were successfully deposited using cold spray and the resulting anodes exhibited good performance under Al electrolysis conditions. The results of the optimization process regarding the thermal post-treatment of powders are presented here, with control of both powder chemical and mechanical properties. Spray parameters as well as tool path management for cold spray deposition on rounded-tip rods were also investigated.