Fabrication and Fracture Toughness of CNTs/Alumina Composites with Fine Microstructures

Abstract

Thin carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were heated at 2800°C to heighten the crystallinity of the CNTs. The microstructures and fracture toughness of the thin CNTs and the heat-treated thin CNTs/alumina composites were investigated. Using such thin CNTs was effective for obtaining finer microstructures of the composites but the heat-treatment made the uniform dispersion of the CNTs difficult. The composites containing the heat-treated thin CNTs showed higher fracture toughness than those containing the thin CNTs and the thick CNTs used in previous study when their content was the same.