Thermomechanical Behavior of bulk Ni/MWNT composites produced via powder metallurgy

Abstract

The thermal expansion behavior of Ni matrix composites reinforced with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) fabricated by pressureless sintering and hot uniaxial pressing was studied in the range between 50 and 1050 °C and compared to that of pure Ni. The results show an active interaction between the MWNT and the Ni matrix by reducing the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of pure Ni up to 76% between 50 and 400 °C. This reduction is due to the strong interfacial interaction between the matrix and the reinforcement and the low intrinsic CTE of the nanotubes. This outstanding behavior may be very useful in applications were low CTE is required as for example structural materials.