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This paper presents a process and its variants to prepare alumina particle suspension in liquid tin alloy. Complication may arise due to the non-wettability of alumina by tin alloy. For this purpose, prior to introduce the powder into the liquid metal, the particles of alumina are covered by a thin layer of tin metal by using a controlled milling process. The operating conditions leading to an optimal coverage without particle damage and to a good dispersibility in the liquid metal have been searched.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a metal deposition process which aims at getting a wettability-enhancing tin coating on silica particles. This original mechano-synthesis protocol allows the deposition of thin (nm) metal layer on oxide, while maintaining particles integrity. Macroscopic wettability tests in liquid tin/bismuth alloy confirm the efficiency of this approach for the production of metal matrix/oxide inclusions composites, while microscopic imaging have shown that individual wetting of particles can easily be attained with the appropriate mixing conditions.