Structural and mechanical properties of CeO2 reinforced Al matrix nanocomposites

¹Center for Advanced Materials, Qatar University, Doha, 2713, Qatar

²Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Suez University, Suez, 43721, Egypt

Adv. Mater. Lett., 2018, 9 (8), pp 602-605

DOI: 10.5185/amlett.2018.2030

Publication Date (Web): Jun 14, 2018

Copyright © IAAM-VBRI Press

E-mail: shakoor@qu.edu.qa

Abstract

In this study, Al-CeO₂ nanocomposites containing various concentrations of reinforcement were fabricated by ball milling and microwave sintering process. A comparison of structural and mechanical properties of the developed nanocomposites is presented to elucidate the effect of reinforcement. Different characterizing tools such as X-ray diffractometer (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), surface profilometrer, microhardness tester and universal compression testing machines were employed. XRD and SEM/EDX analyses reveal the presence and uniform distribution of CeO₂ nanoparticles into the Al matrix. A significant increase in microhardness and compressive strength is noticed with increasing concentration of CeO₂ nanoparticles due to a dispersion hardening effect of the reinforcement. Our study indicates that the concentration of reinforcement has a significant influence of the properties of Al-CeO₂ nanocomposites. It is further noticed that Al-2.0 vol.% CeO₂ nanocomposite demonstrates the best performance as compared to pure Al and other developed nanocomposites.

Keywords

Aluminum, CeO₂ nanoparticles, microwave sintering, surface profilometry, mechanical behavior.