Friction and wear characteristics of the carbon nanotube–aluminum composites with different manufacturing conditions

A new composite material made of carbon nanotube (CNT) and aluminum is a good candidate material for tribological applications because of its excellent mechanical properties, lightweight and good wear properties. In this study, the friction and wear characteristics of CNT composites were evaluated based on the dispersion condition, fabrication method and CNT content in the composites. Among three different dispersion conditions, the best dispersion condition is performing the acid treatment, next, mixing aluminum powder and then performing ultrasonication for 20 min. The specimens were fabricated using spark plasma sintering (SPS) method and hot pressing (HP) method with the best dispersion condition. SPS method was more effective than HP method for minimizing the amount of wear and maintaining a stable friction. The specimens were also fabricated with four different CNT content using SPS method because of its better wear characteristics. The composite with 1% CNT was the material with the lowest friction and wear.