Iron nanoparticle surface treatment of carbon nanotubes to increase fatigue strength of steel composites

A simple, scalable, and reproducible method is used to decorate carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with metal nanoparticles (NPs). Decorating CNTs with iron NPs prior to forming steel-based metal matrix composites (MMCs) improves the high-cycle fatigue (HCF) strength of the MMC by more than 350% vs. plain 1084...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gregory Chester, Anna Skinner, Anthony Villa-Garcia, Kirk J. Ziegler, Justin J. Hill
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2021-01-01
Series:Nanocomposites
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20550324.2021.1956730
Description
Summary:A simple, scalable, and reproducible method is used to decorate carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with metal nanoparticles (NPs). Decorating CNTs with iron NPs prior to forming steel-based metal matrix composites (MMCs) improves the high-cycle fatigue (HCF) strength of the MMC by more than 350% vs. plain 1084 steel and more than 100% vs. an MMC with untreated CNTs. An inverse correlation between CNT loading and tensile strength was observed. The CNT surface treatment uses an organic microenvironment surrounding suspended CNTs and emulsion chemistry to treat individual CNTs or small bundles. This process can be adapted to work with other metal NPs or CNT types. This work demonstrates the potential for metal-treated CNTs to further improve the HCF strength of MMCs and paves a pathway toward additional CNT-reinforced composites.
ISSN:2055-0324
2055-0332