Inhibiting GNPs breakage during ball milling for a balanced strength-ductility match in GNPs/Al composites. (March 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Jianchao; Zhang, Xuexi; Qian, Mingfang; Jia, Zhenggang; Imran, Muhammad; Geng, Lin
• Is Part Of: Composites. Volume 166(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-03
• Subjects: Graphene -- Metal-matrix composites (MMCs) -- Mechanical properties -- Microstructural analysis; Composite materials -- Periodicals; Manufacturing processes -- Periodicals; Composite materials; Manufacturing processes; Periodicals; 620.11805
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2022.107410
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1359-835X

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: GNPs breakage behavior during ball milling process was investigated. Effect of GNP-Al relative size on GNP evolution during ball milling was analyzed. A good strength-ductility match in GNPs/Al: UTS 344 MPa, elongation over 10%. Strengthening behavior of GNPs affected by GNP lateral size was analyzed. Abstract: The difficulty in balancing the structural damage and dispersion of graphene nanoplates (GNPs) during ball milling process has made a great compromise in developing high-performance GNPs/Al composites with a balanced strength-ductility match in large-scale production. Here, we proposed a strategy to inhibit GNPs breakage during the ball milling process by controlling the relative size between GNPs lateral size ( d GNPs ) and Al powder diameter ( d Al ). The fragmentation of GNPs in as-blended powder was reduced due to the buffering effect of Al powders when d Al > d GNPs . The defect density of GNPs was affected by the contact area between GNPs and milling balls, which was closely related to d GNPs and d Al . The lateral size and defect density of GNPs showed a combined effect on the mechanical properties of GNPs/Al composites. GNPs/Al composites with 5 vol% GNPs exhibited excellent strength-ductility match with ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 344 MPa and elongation of over 10%.