Characterization of Ni-CNTs Nanocomposites Produced by Ball-Milling

• Autor(a) principal: Íris Carneiro
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Filomena Viana, Manuel F. Vieira, José Valdemar Fernandes, Sónia Simões
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://hdl.handle.net/10216/127763

This research focuses on the characterization of a metal matrix nanocomposite (MMNC) comprised of a nickel matrix reinforced by carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The aim of this study was to characterize Ni-CNTs nanocomposites produced by powder metallurgy using ball-milling. CNTs were initially untangled using ultrasonication followed by mixture/dispersion with Ni powder by ball-milling for 60, 180, or 300 min. The mixtures were cold-pressed and then pressureless sintered at 950 degrees C for 120 min under vacuum. Their microstructural characterization was mainly performed by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The mechanical properties were evaluated by Vickers microhardness. The results indicate that combining ultrasonication and ball-milling can successfully produce Ni-CNTs nanocomposites. The ball-milling time has a significant effect on both the CNT dispersion and the final nanocomposite microstructure.