Titanium-group nano-whiskers and method of production
Disclosed herein are structures comprising a titanium, zirconium, or hafnium powder particle with titanium carbide, zirconium carbide, or hafnium carbide (respectively) nano-whiskers grown directly from and anchored to the powder particle. Also disclosed are methods for fabrication of such structures, involving heating the powder particles and exposing the particles to an organic gas.
1. A titanium-group structure comprising:
a titanium-group powder particle having a plurality of titanium-group nano-whiskers jointlessly extending from the titanium-group powder particle by being grown directly from the titanium-group powder particle.
2. The titanium-group structure of claim 1 wherein the titanium-group powder particle has a maximum dimension of about 500 microns and the plurality of titanium group nano-whiskers have a maximum diameter of about one hundred nanometers and a length that is at least about one hundred nanometers.
3. The titanium-group structure of claim 1 wherein the titanium-group powder particle comprises titanium and the plurality of titanium group nano-whiskers comprise titanium carbide.
4. The titanium-group structure of claim 1 wherein the titanium-group powder particle comprises zirconium and the plurality of titanium-group nano-whiskers comprise zirconium carbide.
5. The titanium-group structure of claim 1 wherein the titanium-group powder particle comprises hafnium and the plurality of titanium-group nano-whiskers comprise hafnium carbide.
6. The titanium-group structure of claim 1 wherein the titanium-group powder particle comprises any combination of titanium, zirconium, and hafnium.
7. The titanium-group structure of claim 6 wherein the titanium group nano-whiskers comprise any combination of titanium carbide, zirconium carbide, and hafnium carbide.
8. The titanium-group structure of claim 1 wherein the plurality of titanium-group nano-whiskers each have a tapered structure.
9. The titanium-group structure of claim 1 wherein the titanium-group powder particle has a dimension that is at least one micron.
10. The titanium-group structure of claim 1 wherein the plurality of titanium-group nano-whiskers each have a maximum diameter of about ten nanometers and a length that is in a range from about five hundred nanometers to about one thousand nanometers.
11. The titanium-group structure of claim 1 wherein the plurality of titanium-group nano-whiskers include face-centered cubic crystalline titanium-group nano-whiskers.
12. A titanium-group structure consisting of a titanium-group powder particle having a plurality of titanium-group nano-whiskers jointlessly extending from the titanium-group powder particle.
13. The titanium-group structure of claim 12 wherein the titanium-group powder particle has a maximum dimension of about 500 microns and the plurality of titanium group nano-whiskers have a maximum diameter of about one hundred nanometers and a length that is at least about one hundred nanometers.
14. The titanium-group structure of claim 12 wherein the titanium-group powder particle comprises titanium and the plurality of titanium group nano-whiskers comprise titanium carbide.
15. The titanium-group structure of claim 12 wherein the titanium-group powder particle comprises zirconium and the plurality of titanium-group nano-whiskers comprise zirconium carbide.
16. The titanium-group structure of claim 12 wherein the titanium-group powder particle comprises hafnium and the plurality of titanium-group nano-whiskers comprise hafnium carbide.
17. The titanium-group structure of claim 12 wherein the titanium-group powder particle comprises any combination of titanium, zirconium, and hafnium and the titanium group nano-whiskers comprise any combination of titanium carbide, zirconium carbide, and hafnium carbide.
18. The titanium-group structure of claim 12 wherein the plurality of titanium-group nano-whiskers each have a tapered structure.
19. The titanium-group structure of claim 12 wherein the titanium-group powder particle has a dimension that is at least one micron.
20. The titanium-group structure of claim 12 wherein the plurality of titanium-group nano-whiskers each have a maximum diameter of about ten nanometers and a length that is in a range from about five hundred nanometers to about one thousand nanometers.