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Metals
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Advances in Design, Processing and Characterization of Cemented Carbide
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Advances in Design, Processing and Characterization of Cemented Carbide

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2027 | Viewed by 1888

Editor

Prof. Dr. Jinwen Ye

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Materials Science & Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
Interests: transition metal carbonitrides and new hard materials and products; vanadium-titanium suboxide functional materials and application technologies; specialized powder metallurgy new materials and application technologies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The growing demand for high-performance materials that can operate reliably in harsh service environments—such as high temperatures, strong oxidation and corrosion conditions, and high mechanical loading—has accelerated the development of advanced alloys, cermets, and powder metallurgy materials. Cemented carbides play a critical role in cutting tools, wear-resistant components, energy systems, and other strategic applications due to their excellent hardness, strength, and thermal stability.

This Special Issue aims to bring together the latest interdisciplinary research on the design, processing, and characterization of cemented carbides. It focuses on advancing fundamental understanding and technological innovation in composition design, sintering behavior, microstructure–property relationships, and performance under extreme environments. The collection seeks to provide new insights and strategies for the development of next-generation cemented carbide materials.

The scope of this Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:

  • Design and Synthesis: Traditional cemented carbides, TMC/TMCN-based cermets, novel binder phases, and alloying strategies.
  • Processing: Powder metallurgy, carbothermal/nitrogenation routes, additive manufacturing, field-assisted sintering.
  • Microstructure and Interfaces: Interface structure, phase evolution, dissolution–precipitation mechanisms.
  • Properties under Extreme Environments: High-temperature mechanical behavior, oxidation and corrosion resistance, wear performance.
  • Modeling and Simulation: DFT, CALPHAD, phase-field, finite element, and machine learning-assisted studies.
  • Applications: Cutting tools, wear-resistant components, aerospace, energy systems, and functional composites.

Prof. Dr. Jinwen Ye
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cemented carbides
  • powder metallurgy
  • interface engineering
  • sintering mechanisms
  • mechanical properties
  • high-temperature performance
  • oxidation and corrosion resistance
  • microstructure–property relationship
  • mechanisms of improved performance
  • extreme environments

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 13783 KB  
Article
Optimized Electroless Deposition of Co on Activated WC Powders for WC-Co Cemented Carbides with Enhanced Mechanical Performance
by Shenggang Wang, Jiao Shi, Chang Yu and Haitao Xu
Metals 2026, 16(8), 882; https://doi.org/10.3390/met16080882 - 8 Aug 2026
Viewed by 248
Abstract
High-quality WC-Co composite powder is the prerequisite for achieving cemented carbides with superior mechanical properties. However, achieving homogeneous Co distribution on WC particles remains challenging due to the limited surface activity of WC and the high cost associated with noble-metal activation methods. Therefore, [...] Read more.
High-quality WC-Co composite powder is the prerequisite for achieving cemented carbides with superior mechanical properties. However, achieving homogeneous Co distribution on WC particles remains challenging due to the limited surface activity of WC and the high cost associated with noble-metal activation methods. Therefore, this study employed an electroless plating method based on non-noble-metal activation to prepare Co- coated WC composite powders and to clarify the effects of plating parameters on coating behavior, microstructure evolution, and mechanical properties of WC-Co cemented carbides. Results indicate that when plated with a lower reducing-agent concentration (15 g/L) or a lower temperature (70 °C), insufficient Co coating causes poor fracture toughness of the cemented carbides. Increasing the reducing-agent concentration to 25 g/L or the plating temperature to 80 °C promotes a more uniform Co distribution on WC particles, which suppresses WC grain coalescence during sintering. Under the optimized reducing-agent concentration of 25 g/L, the obtained WC-Co cemented carbide exhibits a homogeneous microstructure with an average WC grain size of 0.91 μm, a Vickers hardness of 2054.5 HV30, and a fracture toughness of 11.39 MPa·m1/2. Excessive reducing-agent concentration or plating temperature deteriorates the Co coating uniformity, promoting Co aggregation and grain coarsening of the cemented carbides. This work demonstrates that precise control of electroless plating parameters enables the fabrication of high-quality WC-Co composite powders, providing a practical route for tailoring microstructure and optimizing mechanical performance of the cemented carbides. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Design, Processing and Characterization of Cemented Carbide)
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19 pages, 6724 KB  
Article
Enhancement of Mechanical Properties and Corrosion Resistance of Dual-Scale Structured WC-10Co Cemented Carbides via Cr-N Dual-Functional Regulation
by Mengze He, Zhiyao Ouyang, Qiang Zhong, Jianxiong Zhang, Ziyu Li and Jinwen Ye
Metals 2026, 16(4), 447; https://doi.org/10.3390/met16040447 - 20 Apr 2026
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1003
Abstract
The demanding operational requirements of ultra-deep oil and gas exploration present formidable challenges for material performance, necessitating the development of novel cemented carbides that combine high strength-toughness with exceptional corrosion resistance. In this study, Cr2(C,N) was employed as a grain inhibitor [...] Read more.
The demanding operational requirements of ultra-deep oil and gas exploration present formidable challenges for material performance, necessitating the development of novel cemented carbides that combine high strength-toughness with exceptional corrosion resistance. In this study, Cr2(C,N) was employed as a grain inhibitor to introduce N into the dual-scale structured WC-Co cemented carbide system for the fabrication of novel cemented carbides. The effects of Cr2(C,N) addition on the microstructural organization, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance behavior were systematically investigated. The experimental results show that the addition of Cr2(C,N) effectively prevents the direct contact of these coarse WC grains and allows more fine WC grains to be retained to fill the regions between these coarse WC grains and the Co binder phase, thereby suppressing Co pool formation and resulting in a continuous and uniform Co binder network. When the addition amount of Cr2(C,N) reaches 0.6 wt.%, the dual-scale structured cemented carbide achieves the optimal comprehensive mechanical properties, with a transverse rupture strength of 3182.3 MPa, a fracture toughness of 18.68 MPa·m1/2, and a hardness of 1140.4 HV30. Meanwhile, the optimization of microstructure, the formation of a passive film, and the stabilization of the fcc-Co phase jointly contribute to the superior corrosion resistance of this composition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Design, Processing and Characterization of Cemented Carbide)
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