A sol–gel approach to produce highly dispersed graphene oxide–carbon nanotube hybrid reinforcement into alumina matrix

[摘要] In this article, a hybrid of graphene oxide (GO) and carbon nanotube (CNT) (GONT) was used as the reinforcement to prepare Al2O3–rGONT nanocomposites. Hot pressing was used to fabricate the nanocomposites, which promoted in situ GO reduction and ceramic matrix sintering at the same time. The effects of various GO/CNT ratio combinations on the structural features and mechanical properties of the nanocomposites have been investigated and toughening mechanisms have been analysed. By adopting a new sol–gel approach, in addition to the direct powder mixing, it has been found that the sol–gel process leads to an impressive grain size reduction of 62%, and the fracture toughness and flexural strength reached 6.2 MPa·m1/2 and 420 MPa (i.e. 70% and 14% improvement), respectively, benchmarked against those of pure Al2O3, which even marginally outperformed our previously optimised Al2O3 nanocomposites reinforced by the blend of graphene platelets and CNTs. The success of our new sol–gel strategy opens up new opportunities for choosing hybrid reinforcements for the fabrication of advanced ceramic nanocomposites.

[学科分类] 电子与电气工程

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