A bottom-up strategy toward metal nano-particles modified graphene nanoplates for fabricating aluminum matrix composites and interface study

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2019.09.045

Abstract

Abstract:

To synthesize graphene economically and efficiently, as well as to improve the interface bonding between graphene and metal and to recede the aggregation issue of graphene, in this work, an easy and scalable bottom-up strategy for the mass production of metal nanoparticles modified graphene nanoplates (GNPs) was proposed. Cu nanoparticles modified GNPs (Cu-GNPs) and Ni nanoparticles modified GNPs (Ni-GNPs) were fabricated through this method, and then compounded with Al via ball milling technique. The as-obtained Ni-GNPs/Al composite showed simultaneously improved strength and toughness compared with unreinforced Al, while the Cu-GNPs/Al composite presented a greater strengthening effect. The microstructure and interface of the two composites were carefully characterized and investigated to reveal the difference. First principle study was also adopted to explore the binding energy of different interface structures. This study could provide new insights into the fabrication of GNPs and the control of interface in GNPs/Al composites.

Key words: Graphene nanoplates (GNPs), Nanocomposites, Metal-matrix composites (MMCs), Interface

Tielong Han, Enzuo Liu, Jiajun Li, Naiqin Zhao, Chunnian He. A bottom-up strategy toward metal nano-particles modified graphene nanoplates for fabricating aluminum matrix composites and interface study[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2020, 46: 21-32.

Figures/Tables 16

Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of preparation process of MPGNPs and MPGNPs/Al composites.

Fig. 2. SEM images of self-assembled precursor before (a) and after (b, c) CVD treatment, (d) XRD patterns of Cu-GNPs precursor powders heat-treated at different temperatures, (e) TGA analysis of synthesis process of Cu-GNPs composite powders.

Fig. 3. SEM images (a-c) and TEM images (d-f) of obtained Ni-GNPs composite powders.

Fig. 4. SEM images (a-c) and TEM images (d-f) of obtained Cu-GNPs composite powders.

Fig. 5. Raman spectra of Cu-GNPs (the black line) and Ni-GNPs (the red line) composite powders.

Fig. 6. Morphology of (a) original Al powders, (b) ball milled pure Al powders, (c, d) ball milled Ni-GNP/Al powders and (e, f) ball milled Cu-GNP/Al powders.

Fig. 7. EBSD micrographs of (a) pure Al and (b) Ni-GNPs/Al composite and (c) Cu-GNPs/Al composite.

Fig. 8. (a-d) HRTEM images of the interface of composite (inset: FFT recorded at the marked box). (e) IFFT corresponding to regions marked by boxes in (d). (f) Schematic of GNPs-Al interface structure.

Fig. 9. Schematics of possible formation mechanism of Al3Ni in Ni-GNPs/Al composite.

Fig. 10. TEM images of (a, c) Cu-GNP/Al bulk composite and (b, d) their interface structures.

Fig. 11. Representative TEM images of Cu-GNPs/Al composites. (a, b) Bright-field TEM images without tilt. (c-f) Bright-field TEM images of same area as (a) after tilt in [011] direction. (e) Representative TEM image showing GNPs inside an Al grain. (f) HRTEM image showing “clean” GNPs/Al interface and good bonding. (g) Low magnification scanning TEM (STEM) image of area (e) and the corresponding EDS element map.

Fig. 12. First principle calculations of interfacial bonding properties between different substrates and graphene. Bottom view and front view atomic configurations of (a) Al (111), (b) Al3Ni (020) substrates, and (c) Cu-doped Al (111) substrate attached to graphene sheet.

Table 1 Detailed values obtained from the DFT calculations.

System	E_s (eV)	E_G (eV)	E_m (eV)	A (nm²)	E_b (eV nm^-2)
Al/Graphene	-308.39895	-162.01289	-145.82607	0.41284	-1.356
Al3Ni/Graphene	-416.83119	-243.20660	-171.77599	0.61926	-2.985
Al(Cu)/Graphene	-308.92823	-162.01289	-146.38584	0.41284	-1.283

Fig. 13. (a and b) Tensile engineering strain-stress curves of pure Al, the two composites and the contrast samples (picture of tensile samples was put inset). (c) True strain-stress curves and strain-hardening curves of composites and pure Al.

Table 2 Composition and mechanical properties of specimens.

Specimen	GNPs content (wt.%)	Ni content (wt.%)	Cu content (wt.%)	UTS (MPa)	Elongation (%)
Pure Al	0	0	0	135 ± 3	26.0 ± 0.5
Ni-GNPs/Al	0.24	0.26	0	163 ± 4	31.3 ± 0.8
Cu-GNPs/Al	0.34	0	0.16	180 ± 2	22.5 ± 0.5
Reference I	0	0.25	0	136 ± 3	26.1 ± 0.6
Reference II	0.25	0	0	144 ± 4	21.8 ± 0.8
Reference III	0	0	0.16	156 ± 5	21.5 ± 1.2

Fig. 14. Schematic diagram of pinning effect of graphene on dislocations.

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