Fabrication of carbon nanofiber reinforced aluminum alloy nanocomposites by a liquid process

Mechanical and tribological properties of self-lubricating metal matrix nanocomposites reinforced by carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene – A review

“…However, worn surfaces of the nano-particle reinforced composites were smoother and the total depth of deformations were smaller, grooves were finer than the unreinforced aluminum alloy matrix specimens [82,83] There is a great challenge in introducing carbonous materials to metal matrices. Generally, molten aluminum is not able to wet carbonous materials, such as carbon fibers (CFs), graphite particles, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene where the contact angle of molten aluminum with graphite is between 140 o and 160 o [84]. The reason for high contact angle between carbonous materials and molten aluminum is due to the high surface tension of aluminum in liquid state.…”

Influences of graphite reinforcement on the tribological properties of self-lubricating aluminum matrix composites for green tribology, sustainability, and energy efficiency—a review

“…Graphite particles act as solid lubricant at the contact interface, which enhance the tribological properties of these composites compared to unreinforced aluminum alloys or aluminum alloys reinforced by non-carbonous ceramic particles [32,82,83]. In general, solid lubricants to fabricate self-lubricating composites are solid carbon (carbon fibers [84][85][86], graphite particles [87][88][89][90][91], CNTs, graphene), molybdenum disulfide, and hexagonal boron nitride [2, 16,81]. Low friction coefficient and low wear rate are the key properties of self-lubricating materials as well as their high seizure resistance.…”

Carbon Materials Reinforced Aluminum Composites: A Review

“…According to the study of Oh et al [125], Cu coating can also improve wetting of carbon materials by aluminum through reducing the contact angle from 140°to 55° ( Fig. 12a, b).…”

“…Liu et al [37] improved the TC of short carbon fibers/Al composites from 117 to 208 W m -1 K -1 by using Cu coating. Coating processes of Cu on VGCFs were studied by some researchers [36], and Cu-coated VGCFs were successfully used to improve the mechanical properties of aluminum alloys [125,126]. However, in Cu-coated C/Al composites, intermetallic compounds such as CuAl 2 formed near the interface would reduce the properties of the composites [29,58], as shown in Fig.…”

“…, b Wetting improvement of carbon materials by aluminum with Cu coating[125]; c Interfacial microstructure of Cu-coated carbon fibers/Al composites[29] …”