Synthesis, mechanical properties and microstructure of carbon nanotube reinforced magnesium metal composites

碳纳米管(CNT)增强材料复合材料因其优异的性能而备受关注。然而，对增强机制以及这些机制如何在给定的材料系统中相互作用的理解仍然缺乏。只有在了解物理基础的情况下，才能获得碳纳米管加固的潜在好处。关于碳纳米管-金属复合材料，甚至在实验性的合成、加工和表征领域也鲜有人做。本研究将首次对碳纳米管增强镁复合材料进行系统的研究。在实验上，开发了一种利用碳纳米管在熔体中的分散来制备碳纳米管镁复合材料的新工艺。特别令人感兴趣的是不同类型的碳纳米管在镁熔体中的分散性和润湿性。结合实验对碳纳米管的增强机理进行了深入的研究。我们将评估它们的有效性，确定它们的效率，并了解它们与复杂合金系统中其他强化机制的相互作用。将对基本机制进行评估，以评估碳纳米管增强的理论潜力，并指导实验研究。将进行全面的表征，以理论属性为基准。

Carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced material composites have attracted considerable attention due to their outstanding properties. However, an understanding of reinforcing mechanisms, and how these mechanisms interact in a given material system, is still lacking. The potential benefits of CNT reinforcement can be accessed only if physical fundamentals are understood. Regarding CNT-metal composites little has been done even in the area of experimental synthesis, processing, and characterization. The proposed research will for the first time investigate systematically on CNT reinforced magnesium composite. Experimentally, a novel process to fabricate CNT magnesium composites by using dispersion of CNTs in the melt will be developed. Of particular interest are the dispersion and wettability of different types of CNTs in magnesium melts. Combining with the experiments, the CNT reinforcing mechanisms will be thoroughly investigated. We will assess their validity, determine their efficiency, and understand their interactions with other strengthening mechanisms in complex alloy systems. The basic mechanisms will be evaluated to assess the theoretical potential of CNT reinforcement and to guide the experimental research. Comprehensive characterizations will be carried out to be benchmarked against the theoretical properties.