Carbon nanotube reinforced aluminum composite coating via cold spraying

Multiwalled carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced aluminum nanocomposite coatings were prepared using cold gas kinetic spraying. Spray drying was used to obtain a good dispersion of the nanotubes in micron-sized gas atomized Al-Si eutectic powders. Spray dried powders containing 5 wt.% CNT were blended with pure aluminum powder to give overall nominal CNT compositions of 0.5 wt.% and 1 wt.% respectively. Cold spraying resulted in coatings of the order of 500 μm in thickness. Fracture surfaces of deposits show that the nanotubes were uniformly distributed in the matrix. Nanotubes were shorter in length as they fractured due to impact and shearing between Al-Si particles and the Al matrix during the deposition process. Nanoindentation shows a distribution in the elastic modulus values from 40-229 GPa which is attributed to microstructural heterogeneity of the coatings that comprise the following: pure Al, Al-Si eutectic, porosity and CNTs.