Influence of surfactant type on the dispersion state and properties of graphene nanoplatelets reinforced aluminium matrix nanocomposites

Graphene dispersion in aluminium matrix is a critical concern for the attainment of composite improved mechanical and tribological properties which hinders broad applications of Al nanocomposites. Herein, graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) dispersion in Al matrix achieved by colloidal processing, i.e., combining sonication and surfactant dispersing aid. In this work, the performance of the two types of surfactant (anionic, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS), and nonionic polymeric, ethyl cellulose (EC)) were evaluated for effective GNPs dispersion in a solvent and Al matrix. Surfactant assisted GNPs solvent dispersion characterized through sedimentation test and UV-vis spectroscopy to optimize surfactant concentration. Density, hardness, wear properties and microstructural characterizations of GNPs/Al powder and sintered discs were performed to gauge the effect of surfactant type. It was found that surfactant addition enhances dispersion ability of GNPs than neat GNPs but at low GNPs fractions. The results show that EC assisted GNPs/Al nanocomposites of 0.5 wt% GNPs concentration has shown an increase in hardness (31%) and reduce wear rate (98%). Whereas, 0.3 wt% SDBS assisted GNPs/Al nanocomposites shown maximal increases in hardness (18%) and reduce wear rate (98%) as compared to pure aluminium, respectively. Conclusively, it has been revealed that polymeric EC based surfactant GNPs owing to steric repulsion shows better dispersion effect resulting in high density and improved wear resistance and performed better than SDBS based surfactant GNPs in Al matrix.