Morphology of cnt-al nanocomposite under different ball milling parameters

The dispersion quality is the major concern in nano-composite development as it determines the homogeneity of the enhanced mechanical and tribological properties of the composite. This work study the morphology of aluminium powder in the CNTs-Al nanocomposite prepared with different weight percentage of CNT in aluminium matrix using powder metallurgy route under high energy planetary ball milling operations at varying time and speed of milling of 2, 3hrs and 250, 300 rpm respectively. The preliminary mixing of CNTs and aluminium powder in a tube via manual shaking and the speed used could be the main contributing factor in achieving uniform dispersion of CNT in aluminium matrix within short time. Evidence of FESEM morphology with significant reduction of milling time confirmed that CNT was homogeneously dispersed and distributed into Al matrix