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Physical and mechanical properties of SiC-CNTs nano-composites produced by a rapid microwave process

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Abstract

In this paper, synthesis of SiC-CNTs nano-composites at low temperature by a microwave process is reported. The physical and mechanical properties of SiC based nano-composites reinforced with different amounts of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) (0, 0.5, 2, 5 and 10 vol%) were studied. The characterization of the nano-composites was carried out by means of FE-SEM, XRD, hardness, bending strength, electrical and thermal conductivity tests. The fracture toughness was tested using a Palmquist method. Results show that the hardness of nano-composite sample in 0.5 vol% of CNTs increases of about 24% compared to pure SiC sample. Also three-point bending strength and fracture toughness of the SiC-CNTs nano-composites using 0.5 vol% of CNTs increase of about 10% compared to the pure SiC sample which was produced under the same process. The electrical conductivity of the SiC-CNTs nano-composites had a tendency to decline with increasing volume fraction of the reinforcing material due to the CNT clusters and larger grain-boundary per unit volume, resulting in lower carrier mobility.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank INSF of Iran Contract Number of 94/sad/42699 on 9/11/2015 for complete financial support provided for this research work.

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  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Technology and Engineering, Imam Khomeini International University (IKIU), Qazvin, Iran

    Mohammad Hajiaboutalebi, Masoud Rajabi & Omid Khanali

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  1. Mohammad Hajiaboutalebi
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  2. Masoud Rajabi
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  3. Omid Khanali
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Correspondence to Masoud Rajabi.

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Hajiaboutalebi, M., Rajabi, M. & Khanali, O. Physical and mechanical properties of SiC-CNTs nano-composites produced by a rapid microwave process. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 28, 8986–8992 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-017-6629-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-017-6629-8

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