Fabrication of a resin-bonded ultra-fine diamond abrasive polishing tool by electrophoretic co-deposition for SiC processing

- Cathodic EPcD of diamond/resin composite powder is realized by adding Al3+.
- Preparing a polishing tool with ultra-fine diamond distributed uniformly by EPcD.
- High-efficiency precision machining of SiC can be achieved by this polishing tool.

A resin-bonded ultra-fine diamond abrasive polishing tool is fabricated by electrophoretic co-deposition (EPcD), and the processing performance of the tool is evaluated in this study. The dispersion stability of suspensions is characterized by a laser particle size analyzer and settlement ratio. The cathodic EPcD of composite powder is realized by adding Al3+ into the suspension. The sintering temperature of composite coatings is determined by differential thermal analysis/thermogravimetry. The surface morphology of the composite coating is observed under a confocal microscope. Results show that uniform, dense, and smooth coatings with diamond and resin particles distributed homogeneously are obtained from the steel substrate. A large (Φ150 mm) polishing tool with a 20 μm-thick coating is successfully prepared using the above process. A smooth mirror surface of SiC wafer with a nanoscale roughness (4.3 nm) is achieved after processing with the ultra-fine diamond abrasive polishing tool.