Polycrystalline diamond cutters sintered with magnesium carbonate in cubic anvil press

Abstract Polycrystalline diamond cutters (PDC) were sintered with magnesium carbonate (MgCO 3 ) around 8 GPa and 2200–2400 °C in a single-stage cubic anvil press. Different analyzing techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) were applied to characterize the micro-structure, sintering behavior, and composition of the diamond-MgCO 3 system. Wear resistance, thermal stability, and rupture strength of MgCO 3 -sintered PDC were compared against conventional cobalt-sintered PDC. An improvement in performance was observed from our laboratory tests, which may enable MgCO 3 -sintered PDC to be a functional superhard material for the cutting, drilling, and machining industries.