Mechanical and structural properties of aluminium nanocomposites reinforced with cerium oxide nanoparticles fabricated by powder metallurgy

Abstract

(1) Al + CeO₂ [where,  0, 1, 2, 3 & 4wt.%] nanocomposites were synthesised by powder metallurgy method. The structural and mechanical properties of the synthesised nanocomposites were studied in details. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirms the formation of ceria (CeO₂) nanoparticles with face centered cubic (fcc) structure with an average crystallite size of 12.80nm by co-precipitation technique. The structural analysis of the nanocomposites confirms the uniform dispersion of CeO₂ nanoparticles in Al-matrix. There is a significant development in the hardness value Al was observed due to CeO₂ nanoparticles and maximum hardness value was obtained for 2wt.% CeO₂ in Al-matrix whereas an increase in wear is observed for Al-CeO₂ nanocomposites as compared to aluminium. The corrosion analysis confirms the increase in corrosion resistance of Al-CeO₂ nanocomposite with maximum corrosion resistance efficiency of 83.75% for 4wt.% CeO₂ in  Al matrix.