Investigating the tribological and corrosion resistance performance of Aluminum matrix hybrid nanocomposites reinforced with graphene oxide/Al2O3 for engineering applications

Metals and metallic alloys are used extensively in various demanding engineering applications for their excellent mechanical and thermal properties. However, they suffer from two major drawbacks such as high wear and low corrosion resistance. Hence, as the world is moving towards more industrialization, emphasis on energy conservation has led many researchers to explore various avenues to improve further the properties of metals with a special focus on improving their tribological and anti-corrosive properties. It is estimated that every year, billions of dollars are lost due to the energy lost due to friction and corrosion problems encountered in various engineering applications. With the advent of new materials such as graphene and carbon nanotubes, exhibiting excellent mechanical/thermal/electrical properties, continuous efforts are made to improve the overall performance of metals by fabricating micro and nano-composites by incorporating these new carbon materials as individual reinforcements. However, little research has been reported towards combining these reinforcements to improve the performance of the metal matrix, the fabrication of which is termed as hybrid nano-composites. Therefore, the present research strategy is geared towards the following aim: To develop metal matrix hybrid nanocomposites possessing enhanced mechanical properties with a special focus on the tribological and anti-corrosive performance. The proposed research in the present project intends to fabricate metal matrix hybrid nanocomposites using ball milling and spark plasma sintering techniques to achieve uniform dispersion of the considered reinforcements and enhanced tribological and anti-corrosive properties. Characterized by their low density, aluminium is selected as the metal matrix to be reinforced with graphene oxide (GO) and alumina (Al2O3). Tribological tests and corrosion resistance tests will be conducted to characterize the wear and anti-corrosive properties of the developed hybrid nanocomposites. Various characterization techniques such as FE-SEM, EDS, XRD, will be utilized to investigate the worn surfaces to understand the underlying mechanisms responsible for the observed properties and performance of the developed hybrid nanocomposites.