AlSi10Mg alloy nanocomposites reinforced with aluminum-coated graphene: Selective laser melting, interfacial microstructure and property analysis

Abstract

Graphene has been successfully coated with a nano-Al layer through a novel activating treatment (i.e., organic aluminum reduction method). The nano-Al coated graphene was further processed into AlSi10Mg alloy based composites through a selective laser melting (SLM) process. During the nanocoating of Al on graphene, Al atoms deposited on the graphene through organic aluminum reduction gradually, via nucleation and growth process. There were two primary grain growth patterns: two dimensional (2D) layered growth and three dimensional (3D) island growth, until graphene was coated with Al. The Al-coated graphene was added to the AlSi10Mg alloy, refining the cell, increased the tensile strength, hardness and wear resistance of the alloy. Coating Al on the graphene improved the wetting between graphene and Al, and the addition of Al-coated graphene led to a high nucleation rate, which was responsible for refining the cell. This approach facilitated graphene homogeneous distribution in the Al alloy, the interface between graphene and Al was relatively stable, and the grapheme could pin the dislocation and grain boundary. All these attributes enabled superior mechanical properties to be obtained in the final alloy based nanocomposites.