EUROPEAN CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION ON ADVANCED MATERIALS AND PROCESSES - EUROMAT 2021

The development of carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-reinforced metal matrix composites (MMCs) is challenged by the production of a homogeneous distribution of CNTs in the metal matrix and the formation of a good interface between the CNTs and the matrix. Therefore, we propose that surface modification of CNTs with a coating material such as silicon carbide that is thermally stable and wettable by the matrix prior to composite processing is an effective solution to address these issues. In this work, a continuous coating on individual CNTs were successfully achieved via a novel coating technique. The tailoring of the coating characteristics such as thickness, geometry and chemical composition was performed by controlling the coating technique parameters to determine the most suitable coating characteristic on the CNTs to improve their dispersion and wettability by the metal matrix. It was discovered that the distribution of the coated CNTs in the matrix was improved meanwhile the grain size of the coated CNTs reinforced metal matrix composites was significantly reduced in comparison to the monolithic material and pristine CNTs reinforced metal matrix composite. Finally, the microstructure of the composites were also studied to characterise the interface and mechanical testing were performed to investigate the strengthening effect of the coated CNTs in the metal matrix.