Aluminium is widely used as a core material in the production of various kinds of cables, and the problem of improving its structure and properties is widely discussed.
In order to use aluminum wires, it is important to improve their mechanical properties. Therefore, pure aluminum is not used as a core, but increasing the properties of the core by alloying, complexing, coating, and adding trace elements has become a worldwide trend.
Currently, there is a growing worldwide interest in the preparation of composites with enhanced carbon nanotubes with excellent mechanical, thermal and electrical properties, and a number of researchers have achieved some successes.
According to previous reports, carbon nanotube reinforced aluminum matrix composites have been prepared by powder metallurgy, in situ synthesis, deposition, etc., and these techniques have the disadvantage of complex manufacturing processes and low productivity.
Jon Song Won, a researcher at the Faculty of Material Science and Technology, prepared CNT-Al composite wires by a novel method of direct addition of carbon nanotubes to aluminum molten steel, rather than conventional powder metallurgy and in situ synthesis. Then, he investigated the effects of carbon nanotubes on the microstructure and mechanical properties of CNT-Al composites and the dispersion properties of carbon nanotubes.
The results show that increase in the CNT content improves the mechanical properties of the composite and decreases the particle size of the composite, and that the carbon nanotubes were co-injected with inert gas (N2) to achieve the best performance with a strength limit of 250MPa, elongation of 4.2% and bending number of 6 times.
For more information, please refer to his paper “Effect of Carbon Nanotubes on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Carbon Nanotube Reinforced Aluminum Composites” in “Russian Journal of Non-Ferrous Metals” (SCI).