Surface mechanical and self-lubricating properties of MWCNT impregnated aluminium surfaces

ABSTRACT

Mechanical and tribological properties of Aluminium-1100 substrate modified locally by infusing multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are presented in this paper. MWCNTs were mechanically impregnated onto Al-1100 substrate through an electric resistance heat-assisted solid-state processing route. Presence of MWCNTS with extraordinary mechanical properties and, high specific surface area enhances the surface mechanical behaviour of Al-1100 to a great extent. The microhardness results show an improvement >250%. An in-depth tribological study was carried out, and the findings suggest that the specific wear rate and the coefficient of friction reduced by >90%. Detailed microstructural analysis, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction studies corroborate the experimental observations.

KEYWORDS:

• Aluminium
• MWCNT
• surface nanocomposites
• solid-state processing
• surface modification
• microhardness
• wear
• friction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.