Mono-disperse spherical Cu-Zn powder fabricated via the low wettability of liquid/solid interface

Spherical Cu-Zn alloy powders were fabricated by combining the surface tension of a molten metal with the de-wetting of a metal droplet on a graphite surface. The effect that the gas pressure had on the surface morphology and composition was studied. The Zn concentration can be maintained at 20.18 wt.%, 15.5 wt.% and 12.08 wt.% using 0.22 MPa, 0.10 MPa, and 0.04 MPa, respectively, from a commercially available Cu-38 wt.%Zn raw material. The gas pressure was adjusted to control the surface volatility of Zn without affecting the spherical morphology, and higher gas pressure yielded less volatile Zn. The Cu-Zn alloy powders were perfectly spherical, even at a negative pressure of 0.04 MPa. The spherical Cu-Zn alloy particles hardly changed and were fully dense up to Cu-50 wt.%Zn, which allowed high-quality spherical Cu-Zn alloy powders to potentially serve a large composition range.