Effects of sintering atmospheres and non-stoichiometry on wetting and interfacial bonding of titania with liquid copper

In this work we investigated the effects of sintering atmospheres of titanium dioxides on the wetting behaviour with molten copper by using the sessile drop method. Nano-powders of titanium dioxides were used to fabricate titania substrates. Experimental results showed that titanium dioxides sintered in different atmospheres exhibited a very pronounced difference in the wetting behaviours with the molten metal. Special attention was paid to the correlation of wetting properties with the non-stoichiometry of titania substrates. It was thus deduced that the contact angle increases and the work of adhesion decreases as the titania substrates become more deficient in oxygen.