Homogeneous WC–Co‐Cemented Carbides from a Cobalt‐Coated WC Powder Produced by a Novel Solution‐Chemical Route

Abstract

A solution chemical route to cobalt‐coated WC‐powder is described that allows for the preparation of WC–Co powders and compacts having a carbon content very close to the desired carbon content even under an inert atmosphere. The microstructural homogeneity in the sintered WC–Co composites when using the Co‐coated grains was found to be superior as compared with conventionally mill‐mixed powders, and the structural changes in the individual WC‐grains were found to be much smaller, which is ascribed mainly to the fact that the coated grains do not require a grinding step leading to the formation of a tail of smaller WC grain sizes.