Improvement of Vickers hardness measurement on SWNT/Al2O3 composites consolidated by spark plasma sintering

Dense alumina composites with different carbon nanotube content were prepared by colloidal processing and consolidated by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS). Single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were distributed at grain boundaries and also into agglomerates homogeneously dispersed. Carrying out Vickers h...

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Veröffentlicht in:Journal of the European Ceramic Society Jg. 34; H. 15; S. 3801 - 3809
Hauptverfasser: Morales–Rodríguez, A., Gallardo–López, A., Fernández–Serrano, A., Poyato, R., Muñoz, A., Domínguez–Rodríguez, A.
Format: Journal Article
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2014
Schlagworte:
Alumina
Carbon nanotubes
Nanocomposites
Spark plasma sintering
Vickers hardness
Carbon nanotubes
Spark plasma sintering
Vickers hardness
Nanocomposites
Alumina
ISSN:0955-2219, 1873-619X
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Zusammenfassung:Dense alumina composites with different carbon nanotube content were prepared by colloidal processing and consolidated by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS). Single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were distributed at grain boundaries and also into agglomerates homogeneously dispersed. Carrying out Vickers hardness tests on the cross-section surfaces instead of top (or bottom) surfaces has shown a noticeable increase in the reliability of the hardness measurements. This improvement has been mainly attributed to the different morphology of carbon nanotube agglomerates, which however does not seem to affect the Vickers hardness value. Composites with lower SWNT content maintain the Vickers hardness of monolithic alumina, whereas it significantly decreases for the rest of compositions. The decreasing trend with increasing SWNT content has been explained by the presence of higher SWNT quantities at grain boundaries. Based on the results obtained, a method for optimizing Vickers hardness tests performance on SWNT/Al2O3 composites sintered by SPS is proposed.
ISSN:0955-2219
1873-619X
DOI:10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2014.05.048