Abstract
The exceptional potential of the graphene has not been yet fully translated into the Al matrix to achieve high-performance Al nanocomposite. This is due to some critical issues faced by graphene during its processing such as the dispersion uniformity, structure damage, compatibility/wettability, and low graphene embedding content in Al matrix. In the present work, a new integrative method was adopted and named as “solvent dispersion and ball milling” (SDBM) to address the issues above efficiently in a single approach. This strategy involves effective graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) solvent dispersion via surfactant decoration and solution ball milling employed to polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) coated Al with various GNPs content (0.5, 1 and 1.5 wt. %). Flaky Al powder morphology attained by optimizing ball milling parameters and used for further processing with GNPs. Detailed powders characterizations were conducted to investigate morphology, graphene dispersion, group functionalities by FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) spectroscopy and crystallinity by powder XRD (X-ray diffraction)analysis. Compaction behaviour and spring back effect of the GNPs/Al powders was also investigated at different compaction pressure (300 to 600 Mpa) and varying GNPs fractions. In response, green and sintered relative density (%) along with effect on the hardness of the nanocomposites samples were examined. Conclusively, in comparison with the unreinforced Al, GNP/Al nanocomposite with 1.5 wt. % GNPs exhibited the highest hardness gives 62% maximum increase than pure Al validates the effectiveness of the approach produces high fraction uniformly dispersed GNPs in Al matrix.
Highlights
From last few decades, Aluminum matrix nanocomposites (AMNCs) reinforced with carbon nanofillers, such as CNTs and graphene, have attracted a great attention of the potential users such as automotive and aerospace sectors
A substantial amount of work is in progress to incorporate graphene into the Al matrix to get the full benefit of reinforcement due to its 2D sheet nature with sp2 -type covalently strongly bonded carbon lead to high surface area and excellent mechanical properties [2]
Optimizing milling time is important to get quality dispersion of the nanoparticles in the metal matrix. It can be seen in Figure 5; the spherical Al powder gets flattened with an increase of time, which was the effect of shearing effect of the balls as reported by Liu et al [20]
Summary
Aluminum matrix nanocomposites (AMNCs) reinforced with carbon nanofillers, such as CNTs and graphene, have attracted a great attention of the potential users such as automotive and aerospace sectors. AMNCs possess the full potential to satisfy the demands of the industries due to the extraordinary properties of the nanofillers translated into the metal matrix. This combination leads to AMNCs with lightweight, high mechanical and thermal properties suitable for many structural and thermal management applications [1]. A substantial amount of work is in progress to incorporate graphene into the Al matrix to get the full benefit of reinforcement due to its 2D sheet nature with sp2 -type covalently strongly bonded carbon lead to high surface area and excellent mechanical properties [2].
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