Fabrication of carbon nanotube reinforced Al composites with well-balanced strength and ductility

Abstract: An approach was developed to fabricate carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced Al composites. In a typical process, the Co catalyst was evenly deposited on the surface of Al powder by impregnation route, and then the CNTs were grown in the Al powder by chemical vapor deposition to obtain CNT/Al powders. After ball-milling of the obtained powders for a short time, the CNT/Al composites were fabricated by compacting, sintering and hot extrusion of the ball-milled powders. During this process, the well dispersed CNT reinforcement is deeply embedded in the Al powder forming an effective interface bonding with matrix. As a result, the CNT/Al composites containing 2.5wt.% CNTs exhibit the ultimate tensile strength of 334MPa which is 1.7 times higher than that of unreinforced Al, and good ductility of ∼18% elongation to failure. Thus, well-balanced strength and ductility are achieved in CNT-reinforced Al composites. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]