Synthesis of porous Cu from Al–Cu–Co decagonal quasicrystalline alloys

Abstract

The formation of a porous Cu structure from cast Al–Cu–Co decagonal quasicrystalline alloys has been studied using a selective corrosion technique. Two alkaline solutions were selected based on the electrochemical properties of the constituent elements. Selective corrosion of Al and Co was achieved by chemical immersion of the cast Al–Cu–Co alloy in both 5 M NaOH and 0.5 M Na₂CO₃ solutions; values for BET surface-to-weight ratio of up to 30 m²/g could be reached. Microstructural analyses indicated that the architecture of the resulting porous structures was composed of a needle-type phase, remaining from the decagonal phase, in addition to Cu and Cu–Co phases.

Keywords:

• quasicrystalline
• Al–Cu–Co
• corrosion
• dealloying
• porosity
• catalyst

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant from the Fundamental R&D Program for Core Technology of Materials funded by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Republic of Korea. The authors are grateful to Dr K. Narayana Rao for the BET measurement.