Fast route to obtain Al2O3-based nanocomposites employing graphene oxide: Synthesis and Sintering

A fast approach based on microwave technology was employed for the sintering of novel composites of alumina and using graphene oxide (GO) as susceptor. The thermal stability and structure of GO materials produced by chemical oxidation of graphite were characterized. The morphology, structure and mechanical properties of the composites sintered by microwave approach were reported to the counterparts sintered by conventional method. The results indicated the formation of an interconnecting graphene network promoted the electrical conductivity in the composite having only 2 wt.% GO. Hardness and elastic modulus decreased significantly in samples sintered by conventional method due to lower values of density while microwave technology allowed to achieve a positive effect on the densification and showed a smaller grain size when compared to the one achieved by conventional heating. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Financial support from European Commission (project no. NMP3-SL-2010-246073), Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (project SP20120677) and Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad - MINECO (project TEC2012-37532-C02-01, co-funded by ERDF (European Regional Development Funds) is gratefully acknowledged. A.B. acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (contract JCI-2011-10498). A.P. acknowledges support from Romanian Authority for Scientific Research - UEFISCDI (project no. PN-II-RU-PD-2012-3-0124).Benavente Martínez, R.; Pruna, AI.; Borrell Tomás, MA.; Salvador Moya, MD.; Pullini, D.; Penaranda-Foix, FL.; Busquets Mataix, DJ. (2015). Fast route to obtain Al2O3-based nanocomposites employing graphene oxide: Synthesis and Sintering. Materials Research Bulletin. 64:245-251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.materresbull.2014.12.0752452516