A nanocomposite demonstrating high mechanical strength and proper resistance against erosion/sulfidation was fabricated at Isfahan University of Technology, Iran.
Using iron aluminas for producing nano structures and coatings not only provides considerable resistance against oxidation and sulfidation, but also improves erosion resistance.
However, relatively low mechanical strength at higher temperatures is the drawback of the mentioned compounds. Such a shortcoming can be well compensated by forming nanocomposite compounds with ceramics.
In this study, the researchers first synthesized nanocomposite powder of Fe3Al–30 vol.% Al2O3 via a mechanochemical process. In order to investigate the properties of the prepared powder, cold pressing and vacuum sintering processes were used. Afterwards a sample of Fe3Al–30 vol.% Al2O3 was compared with a sample made of commercial Al2O3 nanopowder.
“The microstructure synthesized from Fe3Al–30 vol.% Al2O3 nanocomposite possesses a configuration of uniform and interconnected phases in a way that the amplifying phase of Al2O3 is uniformly distributed inside the base. On the other hand, the sample made of commercial Al2O3 nanopowder has a non-homogenous and agglomerated microstructure of the amplifying phase and lacks complete phase-interface consistency," Mehdi Khodaei, a member of the research group said, elaborating on the results.
"Also, at the room temperature, our sample showed way higher hardness and strength compared to the sample made of commercial nanopowder. In addition, the prepared nanostructured sample showed more desired mechanical properties rather than its microstructured counterpart,” he added.
More detailed information concerning this research work is accessible at the Journal of Alloys and Compounds, volume 488, pages 134 to 137, 2010.
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