Development of TiO₂/Al₂O₃ based Mg composite materials: properties and applications

Abstract

Mg alloys/Mg-based composites are utilized significantly in the construction of missiles, aerospace and automobiles due to their lightweight, specific strength, and hardness. In the recent work, Mg-based two-components (Mg–TiO2/Mg–Al2O3) and three-components (Mg–TiO2–Al2O3) composites were fabricated through solid-phase synthesis (powder metallurgy method). Temperature (30 °C), pressure (760 mm Hg) and concentration factors were optimized prior to experiments. The characterization of obtained composites were performed through different physicochemical methods like Surface analyzer, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). FTIR analysis verified the composite fabrication. SEM determined microstructures and particle size of the materials in µm dimensions. XRD confirmed the homogeneity and crystalline nature of the obtained composites. The surface area of the produced samples was observed to vary from 40 to 70 m2/g. These properties allow the prepared composites to play the main role in different adsorption applications and catalytic analysis. The prepared materials were considered to be used as catalyst for the formation of CNTs. The catalytic efficiency was observed to be 80 % for the growth of CNTs.