Golden alloy target material with low gold content as well as preparation method and application thereof

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of non-ferrous metals, and provides a low-gold-content golden alloy target as well as a preparation method and application thereof. The low-gold-content golden alloy target material provided by the invention comprises the following components in percentage by mass: 91 to 95 percent of Au, 3.5 to 5.3 percent of Ag, 1.28 to 2.65 percent of Cu, 0.1 to 0.5 percent of Zn, 0.1 to 0.5 percent of In and 0.02 to 0.05 percent of Y. By adding the alloy elements and controlling the content of the alloy elements, the gold alloy target material which is low in gold content, very close to pure gold in color and high in hardness is obtained, the gold alloy target material is applied to a vacuum magnetron sputtering coating technology, a gold film layer which is uniform in color and high in surface hardness can be obtained, and the service life of the gold alloy target material is prolonged. Wide market application prospects are realized.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of nonferrous metals, and in particular to a gold alloy target material with low gold content, and a preparation method and application thereof. Background Art

[0002] Pure gold is one of the earliest metals used in human history and is also the most popular precious metal. Pure gold has unique color and properties. It has always been an important decorative material and ornament, and is also one of the special functional materials.

[0003] In recent years, the market has increasingly higher requirements for the hardness, color and various properties of gold, but its use is restricted to a certain extent due to the high cost caused by the expensive raw materials. Therefore, it is hoped that new materials with low gold content but properties close to pure gold can be developed to reduce the use of gold, reduce costs and save energy.

[0004] Gold alloy is a precious metal material composed of gold as the main component and other metal elements. By adding other metal elements, the hardness of the alloy can be improved, but the color of the alloy will be quite different from that of pure gold. In order to ensure that the color of the alloy is close to that of pure gold, the gold content usually needs to be kept above 98%, but too high a gold content will cause the hardness of the alloy to decrease and the cost to be high. In summary, how to obtain an alloy with a color similar to that of pure gold and a higher hardness while reducing the gold content is an urgent problem to be solved in this field. Summary of the invention

[0005] In view of this, the present invention provides a low-gold content gold alloy target material and a preparation method and application thereof. The low-gold content gold alloy target material provided by the present invention has a low gold content, a color close to pure gold, and a high hardness. By using the target material for film coating, a gold film layer with uniform color and high surface hardness can be obtained.

[0006] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object of the invention, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

[0007] A gold alloy target material with low gold content comprises the following components in percentage by mass: Au 91-95%, Ag 3.5-5.3%, Cu 1.28-2.65%, Zn 0.1-0.5%, In 0.1-0.5%, and Y 0.02-0.05%.

[0008] The present invention also provides a method for preparing the gold alloy target with low gold content described in the above scheme, comprising the following steps:

[0009] Au, Ag, Cu, Zn, In and CuY master alloy are melted, then heat-refined and cast to obtain alloy ingots;

[0010] The alloy ingot is subjected to vacuum homogenization annealing, rolling and stamping in sequence to obtain the low-gold-content gold alloy target.

[0011] Preferably, the smelting includes: first heating and melting Au, then sequentially adding Ag, Cu, In and CuY master alloy to melt, and finally adding Zn to melt.

[0012] Preferably, the smelting is carried out in a vacuum induction melting furnace.

[0013] Preferably, the temperature of the heat preservation refining is 950-1050° C., and the time is 10-15 minutes.

[0014] Preferably, the vacuum homogenization annealing is performed at a temperature of 550 to 600° C. and for a time of 20 to 40 minutes.

[0015] Preferably, the rolling is cold rolling, and the deformation rate of each rolling pass is 15-20%; and the stamping is cold stamping.

[0016] Preferably, after the stamping is completed, the target material is subjected to surface treatment.

[0017] The present invention also provides the gold alloy target with low gold content described in the above scheme or the use of the gold alloy target with low gold content described in the above scheme in vacuum magnetron sputtering coating.

[0018] Preferably, the chromaticity values ​​of the film layer obtained by vacuum magnetron sputtering coating are: L value is 88.0 to 91.8, a* value is 4.6 to 7.8, and b* value is 31.5 to 36.8;

[0019] The hardness of the film layer obtained by the vacuum magnetron sputtering coating is 75-95 Hv.

[0020] The present invention provides a gold alloy target material with low gold content, comprising the following components in percentage by mass: Au 91-95%, Ag 3.5-5.3%, Cu 1.28-2.65%, Zn 0.1-0.5%, In 0.1-0.5%, Y 0.02-0.05%. The present invention adopts Ag, Cu, Zn, In and Y as alloy elements to prepare the gold alloy, and obtains the gold alloy target material with low gold content, color very close to pure gold and high hardness by adding each alloy element and controlling the content thereof, and is suitable for coating of various functional parts and decorative items.

[0021] The results of the embodiment show that the golden alloy target material of the present invention is applied to the vacuum magnetron sputtering coating technology to obtain a golden film layer with uniform color and high surface hardness. The chromaticity value range of the golden alloy target coating is: L=88.0-91.8, a*=4.6~7.8, b*=31.5~36.8, which is very close to the color of pure gold. At the same time, the coating hardness value is 78~95Hv, which has broad market application prospects. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The invention provides a gold alloy target material with low gold content, comprising the following components in percentage by mass: Au 91-95%, Ag 3.5-5.3%, Cu 1.28-2.65%, Zn 0.1-0.5%, In 0.1-0.5%, and Y 0.02-0.05%.

[0023] In terms of mass percentage, the low gold content gold alloy target provided by the present invention includes Au 91-95%, specifically 91%, 91.5%, 92%, 92.6%, 93.2%, 93.8%, 94.3% or 95%.

[0024] The low gold content gold alloy target provided by the present invention includes Ag3.5-5.3%, specifically 3.8%, 3.5%, 4%, 4.2%, 4.5%, 4.8%, 5% or 5.3%, in terms of mass percentage. In the present invention, Ag is the main alloy element. Experiments show that the addition of Ag element can slowly reduce the b* value (yellowness) of the alloy, improve the fluidity of the metal alloy, and increase the brightness of the alloy.

[0025] In terms of mass percentage, the low gold content gold alloy target provided by the present invention includes Cu1.28-2.65%, specifically 1.28%, 1.57%, 1.83%, 2.18%, 2.35%, 2.56%, 2.57% or 2.65%. Cu is the only red metal in nature. Adding copper to Au can increase the a* value (redness) in its chromaticity value and form an AuCu intermediate compound, thereby increasing the hardness of the alloy.

[0026] The low gold content gold alloy target provided by the present invention includes Zn 0.1-0.5%, specifically 0.1%, 0.15%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4% or 0.5%, in terms of mass percentage. In the present invention, the addition of Zn element can change the fluidity of the alloy, improve the brightness of the alloy, and improve the machinability of the alloy, and can form a yellow compound with copper, and its color is close to that of pure gold.

[0027] In terms of mass percentage, the low gold content gold alloy target provided by the present invention includes 0.1-0.5% In, specifically 0.1%, 0.15%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4% or 0.5%. In the present invention, the addition of In element can improve the yellowness and brightness of the alloy.

[0028] In terms of mass percentage, the low gold content gold alloy target provided by the present invention includes Y0.02-0.05%, specifically 0.02%, 0.03%, 0.04% or 0.05%. In the present invention, the addition of rare earth Y element can refine the grains and improve the hardness.

[0029] The present invention also provides a method for preparing the gold alloy target with low gold content described in the above scheme, comprising the following steps:

[0030] Au, Ag, Cu, Zn, In and CuY master alloy are melted, then heat-refined and cast to obtain alloy ingots;

[0031] The alloy ingot is subjected to vacuum homogenization annealing, rolling and stamping in sequence to obtain the low-gold-content gold alloy target.

[0032] The present invention melts Au, Ag, Cu, Zn, In and CuY master alloy, then performs heat preservation refining and casting to obtain alloy ingots. In the present invention, the mass ratio of Cu and Y in the CuY master alloy is preferably 75:25; the melting preferably includes: first heating and melting Au, then adding Ag, Cu, In and CuY master alloy in sequence for melting, and finally adding Zn for melting; in the present invention, the melting temperatures of Au, Ag, Cu, In and CuY master alloy are preferably 1000-1050°C, and the melting temperature of Zn is preferably 800-850°C; stirring is preferably performed continuously during the melting process; the melting is preferably performed in a vacuum induction melting furnace, and the vacuum induction furnace is preferably a medium frequency vacuum induction melting furnace; the melting is preferably performed in a graphite crucible. The present invention has no special requirements for the melting temperature, and the above raw materials can be completely melted.

[0033] In the present invention, the temperature of the heat preservation and refining is preferably 950-1050° C., more preferably 1000-1020° C., and the time of the heat preservation and refining is preferably 10-15 min, more preferably 10-12 min.

[0034] In the present invention, the casting mold is preferably a copper mold; after the alloy liquid after heat preservation and refining is poured into the copper mold, it is demoulded after cooling to room temperature to obtain the alloy ingot.

[0035] After obtaining the alloy ingot, the present invention sequentially performs vacuum homogenization annealing, rolling and stamping on the alloy ingot to obtain the low gold content gold alloy target; in the present invention, the temperature of the vacuum homogenization annealing is preferably 550-600°C, more preferably 580°C, and the time is preferably 20-40min, more preferably 20min; the vacuum homogenization annealing is preferably performed in a vacuum gas protection tubular furnace, and the vacuum homogenization annealing is preferably performed with an inert gas for protection, and the inert gas is preferably argon; the rolling is preferably cold rolling, and the rolling pass deformation rate is preferably 15-20%; the stamping is preferably cold stamping.

[0036] In the present invention, after the stamping is completed, the target material is preferably subjected to surface treatment; the surface treatment is preferably polishing. In a specific embodiment of the present invention, the size of the low gold content gold alloy target material is 60×60×2.5 mm.

[0037] The present invention also provides the low-gold content gold alloy target described in the above scheme or the use of the low-gold content gold alloy target described in the above scheme in vacuum magnetron sputtering coating. In the present invention, the chromaticity value of the film layer obtained by the vacuum magnetron sputtering coating is: L value is 88.0-91.8, a* value is 4.6-7.8, b* value is 31.5-36.8; the hardness value of the film layer obtained by the vacuum magnetron sputtering coating is 75-95Hv.

[0038] The following will be combined with the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0039] In the following examples, a Minolta 700d colorimeter was used to measure the colorimetry of the coating; the mass ratio of Cu to Y in the alloy raw material CuY used was 75:25.

[0040] Example 1

[0041] First, Au is heated and melted in a medium frequency vacuum induction melting furnace at a melting temperature of 1000°C, and then Ag, Cu, In, and CuY are added in sequence. When the above metals and Au are fully melted, the temperature is lowered to 850°C and metal Zn is added. After the Zn is completely melted, the temperature is gradually raised and the temperature is kept for refining. The refining temperature is 1050°C and the refining time is 10 minutes. After the refining is completed, the alloy liquid is poured into a copper mold to obtain an alloy ingot. The alloy ingot is vacuum annealed and heat treated at a temperature of 580°C for 20 minutes, followed by cold rolling (pass deformation rate of 20%), cold stamping and surface polishing to obtain a gold alloy target, the composition of which is: 91wt.% Au, 5.3wt.% Ag, 2.65wt.% Cu, 0.5wt.% Zn, 0.5wt.% In, 0.05wt.% Y; the size of the target is 60×60×2.5mm.

[0042] The obtained gold alloy target was subjected to coating experiment in a vacuum magnetron coating machine, and the coating chromaticity values ​​were: L=91.8, a*=4.6, b*=31.5, and the coating hardness value was 95Hv.

[0043] Pure gold was used as the target material for coating, and the coating chromaticity value was: L=87.2, a* value=8.4, b* value=37.6, and the coating hardness value was 55Hv. It can be seen that the color of the coating obtained by coating with the gold alloy target material of the present invention is very close to the color of the coating obtained with the pure gold target material, and the hardness is greatly improved.

[0044] Example 2

[0045] First, Au is heated and melted in a medium frequency vacuum induction melting furnace at a melting temperature of 1000°C, and then Ag, Cu, In, and CuY are added in sequence. When the above metals and Au are fully melted, the temperature is lowered to 850°C and metal Zn is added. After the Zn is completely melted, the temperature is gradually raised and the temperature is kept for refining. The refining temperature is 1050°C and the refining time is 10 minutes. After the refining is completed, the alloy liquid is poured into a copper mold to obtain an alloy ingot. The alloy ingot is vacuum annealed and heat treated at a temperature of 580°C for 20 minutes, followed by cold rolling (pass deformation rate of 20%), cold stamping and surface polishing to obtain a gold alloy target material, the composition of which is: 91.5wt.% Au, 5wt.% Ag, 2.57wt.% Cu, 0.5wt.% Zn, 0.4wt.% In, 0.03wt.% Y; the size of the target material is 60×60×2.5mm.

[0046] The obtained gold alloy target was subjected to coating experiment in a vacuum magnetron coating machine, and the coating chromaticity values ​​were: L=91.2, a*=4.9, b*=32.7, and the coating hardness value was 93Hv.

[0047] Example 3

[0048] First, Au is heated and melted in a medium frequency vacuum induction melting furnace at a melting temperature of 1000°C, and then Ag, Cu, In, and CuY are added in sequence. When the above metals and Au are fully melted, the temperature is lowered to 850°C and metal Zn is added. After the Zn is completely melted, the temperature is gradually raised and the temperature is kept for refining. The refining temperature is 1050°C and the refining time is 10 minutes. After the refining is completed, the alloy liquid is poured into a copper mold to obtain an alloy ingot. The alloy ingot is vacuum annealed and heat treated at a temperature of 580°C for 20 minutes, followed by cold rolling (pass deformation rate of 20%), cold stamping and surface polishing to obtain a gold alloy target, the composition of which is: 92wt.% Au, 4.8wt.% Ag, 2.56wt.% Cu, 0.3wt.% Zn, 0.3wt.% In, 0.04wt.% Y; the size of the target is 60×60×2.5mm.

[0049] The obtained gold alloy target was subjected to coating experiment in a vacuum magnetron coating machine, and the coating chromaticity values ​​were: L=90.8, a*=5.3, b*=33.2, and the coating hardness value was 92Hv.

[0050] Example 4

[0051] First, Au is heated and melted in a medium frequency vacuum induction melting furnace at a melting temperature of 1000°C, and then Ag, Cu, In, and CuY are added in sequence. When the above metals and Au are fully melted, the temperature is lowered to 850°C and metal Zn is added. After the Zn is completely melted, the temperature is gradually raised and the temperature is kept for refining. The refining temperature is 1050°C and the refining time is 10 minutes. After the refining is completed, the alloy liquid is poured into a copper mold to obtain an alloy ingot. The alloy ingot is vacuum annealed and heat treated at a temperature of 580°C for 20 minutes, followed by cold rolling (pass deformation rate of 20%), cold stamping and surface polishing to obtain a gold alloy target, whose composition content is: 92.6wt.% Au, 4.5wt.% Ag, 2.35wt.% Cu, 0.3wt.% Zn, 0.2wt.% In, 0.05wt.% Y, and the size of the target is 60×60×2.5mm.

[0052] The obtained gold alloy target was subjected to coating experiment in a vacuum magnetron coating machine, and the coating chromaticity values ​​were: L=90.5, a*=6.0, b*=34.0, and the coating hardness value was 90Hv.

[0053] Example 5

[0054] First, Au is heated and melted in a medium frequency vacuum induction melting furnace at a melting temperature of 1000°C, and then Ag, Cu, In, and CuY are added in sequence. When the above metals and Au are fully melted, the temperature is lowered to 850°C and metal Zn is added. After the Zn is completely melted, the temperature is gradually raised and the temperature is kept for refining. The refining temperature is 1050°C and the refining time is 10 minutes. After the refining is completed, the alloy liquid is poured into a copper mold to obtain an alloy ingot. The alloy ingot is vacuum annealed and heat treated at a temperature of 580°C for 20 minutes, followed by cold rolling (pass deformation rate of 20%), cold stamping and surface polishing to obtain a gold alloy target, the composition of which is: 93.2wt.% Au, 4.2wt.% Ag, 2.18wt.% Cu, 0.2wt.% Zn, 0.2wt.% In, 0.02wt.% Y; the size of the target is 60×60×2.5mm.

[0055] The obtained gold alloy target was subjected to coating experiment in a vacuum magnetron coating machine, and the coating chromaticity values ​​were: L=89.3, a*=6.4, b*=34.8, and the coating hardness value was 88Hv.

[0056] Example 6

[0057] First, Au is heated and melted in a medium frequency vacuum induction melting furnace at a melting temperature of 1000°C, and then Ag, Cu, In, and CuY are added in sequence. When the above metals and Au are fully melted, the temperature is lowered to 850°C and metal Zn is added. After the Zn is completely melted, the temperature is gradually raised and the temperature is kept for refining. The refining temperature is 1050°C and the refining time is 10 minutes. After the refining is completed, the alloy liquid is poured into a copper mold to obtain an alloy ingot. The alloy ingot is vacuum annealed and heat treated at a temperature of 580°C for 20 minutes, followed by cold rolling (pass deformation rate of 20%), cold stamping and surface polishing to obtain a gold alloy target, the composition of which is: 93.8wt.% Au, 4wt.% Ag, 1.83wt.% Cu, 0.2wt.% Zn, 0.15wt.% In, 0.02wt.% Y; the size of the target is 60×60×2.5mm.

[0058] The obtained gold alloy target was subjected to coating experiment in a vacuum magnetron coating machine, and the coating chromaticity values ​​were: L=88.6, a*=7.0, b*=36.0, and the coating hardness value was 86Hv.

[0059] Example 7

[0060] First, Au is heated and melted in a medium frequency vacuum induction melting furnace at a melting temperature of 1000°C, and then Ag, Cu, In, and CuY are added in sequence. When the above metals and Au are fully melted, the temperature is lowered to 850°C and metal Zn is added. After the Zn is completely melted, the temperature is gradually increased and kept warm for refining at a refining temperature of 1050°C and a refining time of 10 minutes. After the refining is completed, the alloy liquid is poured into a copper mold to obtain an alloy ingot. The alloy ingot was vacuum annealed at 580°C for 20 min, followed by cold rolling (with a deformation rate of 20%), cold stamping and surface polishing to obtain a gold alloy target having the following composition: 94.3wt.% Au, 3.8wt.% Ag, 1.57wt.% Cu, 0.15wt.% Zn, 0.15wt.% In, 0.03wt.% Y; the size of the target was 60×60×2.5 mm.

[0061] The obtained gold alloy target was subjected to coating experiment in a vacuum magnetron coating machine, and the coating chromaticity values ​​were: L=88.2, a*=7.6, b*=36.5, and the coating hardness value was 81Hv.

[0062] Example 8

[0063] First, Au is heated and melted in a medium frequency vacuum induction melting furnace at a melting temperature of 1000°C, and then Ag, Cu, In, and CuY are added in sequence. When the above metals and Au are fully melted, the temperature is lowered to 850°C and metal Zn is added. After the Zn is completely melted, the temperature is gradually raised and the temperature is kept for refining. The refining temperature is 1050°C and the refining time is 10 minutes. After the refining is completed, the alloy liquid is poured into a copper mold to obtain an alloy ingot. The alloy ingot is vacuum annealed and heat treated at a temperature of 580°C for 20 minutes, followed by cold rolling (pass deformation rate of 20%), cold stamping and surface polishing to obtain a gold alloy target, the composition of which is: 95wt.% Au, 3.5wt.% Ag, 1.28wt.% Cu, 0.1wt.% Zn, 0.1wt.% In, 0.02wt.% Y; the size of the target is 60×60×2.5mm.

[0064] The obtained gold alloy target was subjected to coating experiment in a vacuum magnetron coating machine, and the coating chromaticity values ​​were: L=88.0, a*=7.8, b*=36.8, and the coating hardness value was 78Hv.

[0065] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principle of the present invention. These improvements and modifications should also be regarded as the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A gold alloy target with low gold content, characterized in that: The invention comprises the following components in percentage by mass: Au 91-95%, Ag 3.5-5.3%, Cu 1.28-2.65%, Zn 0.1-0.5%, In 0.1-0.5%, and Y 0.02-0.05%.

2. The method for preparing the gold alloy target with low gold content according to claim 1, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Au, Ag, Cu, Zn, In and CuY master alloy are melted, then heat-refined and cast to obtain alloy ingots; The alloy ingot is subjected to vacuum homogenization annealing, rolling and stamping in sequence to obtain the low-gold-content gold alloy target.

3. The preparation method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The smelting comprises: firstly heating and melting Au, then sequentially adding Ag, Cu, In and CuY master alloy to melt, and finally adding Zn to melt.

4. The preparation method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The smelting is carried out in a vacuum induction melting furnace.

5. The preparation method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The temperature of the heat preservation refining is 950-1050° C. and the time is 10-15 minutes.

6. The preparation method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The vacuum homogenization annealing is performed at a temperature of 550-600° C. and for a time of 20-40 minutes.

7. The preparation method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The rolling is cold rolling, and the deformation rate of each rolling pass is 15-20%; the stamping is cold stamping.

8. The preparation method according to claim 2, characterized in that: After the stamping is completed, the target material is subjected to surface treatment.

9. Use of the low-gold content gold alloy target material according to claim 1 or the low-gold content gold alloy target material according to any one of claims 2 to 8 in vacuum magnetron sputtering coating.

10. The use according to claim 9, characterized in that: The chromaticity values ​​of the film layer obtained by vacuum magnetron sputtering coating are: L value is 88.0-91.8, a* value is 4.6-7.8, and b* value is 31.5-36.8; The hardness of the film layer obtained by the vacuum magnetron sputtering coating is 75-95 Hv.