Magnesium-based nanocomposites: Lightweight materials of the future

High Performance Lightweight Magnesium Nanocomposites for Engineering and Biomedical Applications

“…Various techniques have been used to disperse the reinforcements, the most common method involves agitating the molten melt with a mechanical impeller [2][3][4] and the use of ultrasonic energy to disperse the nano-size particles [23]. The Disintegrated Melt Deposition (DMD) technique has been developed and used by the research group at National University of Singapore for more than twenty years to synthesize different magnesium composite formulations.…”

“…The Disintegrated Melt Deposition (DMD) technique has been developed and used by the research group at National University of Singapore for more than twenty years to synthesize different magnesium composite formulations. Details of the DMD technique have been described elsewhere [4].…”

“…The mechanisms contributing to the improvement in 0.2% YS can be attributed to [4]: (i) Hall-Petch strengthening due to grain refinement, (ii) Orowan strengthening due to the presence of nanoparticles, (iii) increased dislocation density and formation of internal thermal stresses due to coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch between reinforcements and matrix, (iv) work hardening due to elastic modulus mismatch between reinforcements and matrix and (v) effective load transfer from the matrix to the stiff and hard particles. The improvement in ductility for ceramic reinforcements may be due to grain refinement, the activation of non-basal slip systems and texture modification (change in crystallographic orientation) [16].…”

“…With new development in recent years, magnesium has been tested for use as seat frames for aircrafts, cars and buses with improved weight savings and satisfactory performance [46][47][48] as well as other components such as instrument panels, doors, powertrains and tyre rims [49,50]. The application of magnesium alloys and composites in various industries are expected to increase in future due to: (1) the development of new Mg alloys and nanocomposites with improved ductility, ignition temperature and corrosion resistance [4,48,51], (2) innovations in processing and fabrication technologies for magnesium [5,50] In the biomedical sector, magnesium alloyed with rare earth and other elements such as calcium and zirconium [51,53] and reinforced with nanoparticles [9,15,54,55] are increasing being explored. The on-going research is focused on controlling the degradation rate of magnesium and to improve the mechanical properties.…”

“…However, its low elastic modulus, limited ductility and high corrosion rate limit its use in broad spectrum of engineering applications. These limitations can be resolved with the addition of suitable alloying elements and reinforcements to form new magnesium alloys and composites with improved mechanical and corrosion properties [2][3][4][5].…”