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PreprintCC BYChemRxiv

Magnetron Sputtering of Conformal Tungsten and Copper Coatings onto Glass Microsphere Powder via Agitation

  • Kira Shulman
  • David Ross1,2
  • Victor Siller1,2
  • Andrew Ahn1,2
  • William Ponder1,2
  • Miranda Boyd1,2
  • Benjamin Morrow1,2
  • Joseph Torres1,2
  • Rachel Collino1,2
  • Daniel Jorge Rodriguez1,2
  1. 1Engineered Materials (MST-7)
  2. 2Los Alamos National Laboratory
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Abstract

Hollow glass microspheres (HGMS) and glass microspheres (GMS) are a promising additive manufacturing powder feedstock for next-generation composite materials for extreme environments.In this work, a magnetron sputtering system dedicated to HGMS and GMS feedstocks was built to deposit thin conformal metal shells onto their surfaces.This powder physical vapor deposition (P-PVD) method operates by housing a vibrating stage inside a vacuum chamber to induce constant motion of the powder throughout deposition to ensure the coating continually develops around the entirety of each microsphere.Tungsten (W) and copper (Cu) were deposited for 10 h, leading to deposition rates of ~0.12 Å/s and ~0.42 Å/s, respectively.Shell thickness was obtained from cross-sections of the W-HGMS and Cu-GMS, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to image the coating-substrate interface.W-HGMS had an average coating thickness of ~420 ± 100 nm and Cu-GMS of ~1520 ± 340 nm.X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) assessed the coatings and found them to be primarily metal with some amounts of CuO and WO3 from ambient exposure.Finally, Cu-GMS was implemented as a feedstock material for selective laser sintering (SLS) to produce a 20 wt.% Cu-GMS/Nylon12 composite print.The Cu-GMS remained intact through the 3D printing procedure demonstrating compatibility of metal coated microspheres with SLS.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{shulman2026magnetron,
  title = {{Magnetron Sputtering of Conformal Tungsten and Copper Coatings onto Glass Microsphere Powder via Agitation}},
  author = {Kira Shulman and David Ross and Victor Siller and Andrew Ahn and William Ponder and Miranda Boyd and Benjamin Morrow and Joseph Torres and Rachel Collino and Daniel Jorge Rodriguez},
  howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15009835/v1},
  url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009835/v1},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Magnetron Sputtering of Conformal Tungsten and Copper Coatings onto Glass Microsphere Powder via Agitation
AU  - Kira Shulman
AU  - David Ross
AU  - Victor Siller
AU  - Andrew Ahn
AU  - William Ponder
AU  - Miranda Boyd
AU  - Benjamin Morrow
AU  - Joseph Torres
AU  - Rachel Collino
AU  - Daniel Jorge Rodriguez
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/04
PB  - ChemRxiv
DO  - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15009835/v1
UR  - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009835/v1
AB  - Hollow glass microspheres (HGMS) and glass microspheres (GMS) are a promising additive manufacturing powder feedstock for next-generation composite materials for extreme environments.In this work, a magnetron sputtering system dedicated to HGMS and GMS feedstocks was built to deposit thin conformal metal shells onto their surfaces.This powder physical vapor deposition (P-PVD) method operates by housing a vibrating stage inside a vacuum chamber to induce constant motion of the powder throughout deposition to ensure the coating continually develops around the entirety of each microsphere.Tungsten (W) and copper (Cu) were deposited for 10 h, leading to deposition rates of ~0.12 Å/s and ~0.42 Å/s, respectively.Shell thickness was obtained from cross-sections of the W-HGMS and Cu-GMS, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to image the coating-substrate interface.W-HGMS had an average coating thickness of ~420 ± 100 nm and Cu-GMS of ~1520 ± 340 nm.X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) assessed the coatings and found them to be primarily metal with some amounts of CuO and WO3 from ambient exposure.Finally, Cu-GMS was implemented as a feedstock material for selective laser sintering (SLS) to produce a 20 wt.% Cu-GMS/Nylon12 composite print.The Cu-GMS remained intact through the 3D printing procedure demonstrating compatibility of metal coated microspheres with SLS.
ER  -