Nanocrystallized magnesium alloy – uniform dispersion of C60 molecules

C60 was successfully dispersed in a magnesium alloy (AZ31) using friction stir processing (FSP). The grain size of the AZ31 was reduced by the uniform distribution of the C60 molecules. The stir zone of the FSPed AZ31 with the C60 consisted of very small grains, sized less than 100 nm. The maximum microhardness of the C60/AZ31 nanocomposite reached ∼126 Hv, which is almost three times higher than that of the AZ31 substrate.