Characterization of alumina-based ceramic nanocomposites by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Abstract

Alumina-based hybrids containing different concentrations of carbon nanostructure and SiC nanoparticles were consolidated by the spark plasma sintering in order to obtain fully dense bulk ceramic nanocomposites. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy was employed to determine relationship between plasma temperature and surface hardness of the composites. The characteristic parameters of plasma generated by irradiation of laser Nd:YAG (λ = 1064 nm) on different bulk nanocomposites were determined at different delay times and energies by assuming the LTE condition for optically thin plasma. The plasma temperatures were estimated through intensity of selected aluminum emission lines using the Boltzmann plot method. The electron density was determined using the Stark broadening of selected aluminum and silicon emission lines. The samples were mechanically characterized by the Vickers hardness test. It has been observed that the plasma temperature increases with the increase in hardness and shows a perfect linear relationship. The results suggest that calibration curve between hardness and the plasma temperature can be employed as an alternate method to estimate the hardness of nanocomposite with varying concentrations of nanostructures just by measuring the plasma temperature with better reproducibility and accuracy. Therefore, laser-induced break down spectroscopy (LIBS) offers potential applications in nuclear industry.