Investigating the corrosion, wear, and mechanical characteristics of Al-GN-BN ternary nanocomposites

In the effort for the development of advanced materials that meet cutting-edge applications, 2D graphene nanosheets (GN) and hexagonal boron nitride (BN) nanoparticles were used as reinforcements, and aluminum (Al) as the matrix to develop Al nanocomposites with investigations into their corrosion, wear, and mechanical performance. The nanoparticles and Al powder were mixed in a tubular mixer, compacted with a hydraulic press, melted and cast to form the nanocomposites, and heat-treated by quenching in water from 500 °C and aging at 200 °C. The analyses conducted indicate that the hybrid Al-GN-BN nanocomposites are the best-performing compared to their Al-GN nanocomposite counterparts. While the Al-1wt%GN-10wt%BN showed a slight increase in corrosion rate relative to the pure Al, the nanocomposite corrosion rate is about 44.8 % and 22.4 % lower than the Al-1wt%GN nanocomposite in acid and salt media, respectively. The Al-GN-BN nanocomposites also had a reduced wear rate, coefficient of friction (CoF), improved hardness, and elastic modulus compared to the pure Al and Al-GN nanocomposites. The enhancements in these properties of the Al-GN-BN nanocomposites are linked to the various desired engineering properties of GN and BN nanoparticles, such as chemical inertness, mechanical, and self-lubrication properties, where their effective combination could result in engineering nanomaterials with advanced properties.