Novel Characterizations of Mechanical Properties for a Copper/Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposite Synthesized by Laser Surface Implanting

Abstract

In our previous studies, we have developed a wet process, denoted laser surface implanting (LSI), to synthesize a copper/single-walled carbon nanotube (Cu–SWCNT) metal nanocomposite as an implant onto the surface of a pure copper substrate. The nanostructure of this Cu–SWCNT composite was confirmed independently by several methods, including transmission electron microscope (TEM) images, which show discernable SWCNT clusters in nano sizes inside the copper matrix. The hardness was measured by micro-hardness tests to indicate over three times hardness over that of pure copper could be achieved. In this paper, we present several unique ways to further characterize the mechanical properties of the Cu-SWCNT nanocomposite. Nano-hardness tests are first performed to confirm that hardness improvement, about three times that of pure copper, is achieved, consistent with the micro-hardness test results. A new toughness measurement based on focus ion beam (FIB) bombardment was performed to demonstrate 2.5 times toughness improvement. Finally, a new compression test rig was designed to conduct plane strain compression test for an array of Cu-SWCNT implants. The results confirmed that the Cu-SWCNT nanocomposite exhibits a stress-strain behavior consistent with the results of the hardness and FIB tests.

Laser Spot Welding and Electric Contact Points Using Copper/Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposite Synthesized by Laser Surface Implanting

“…The hardness of the Cu-SWCNT nanocomposite is not uniform based on Figure 3. Please refer to the work in [16] for details of the nano-hardness test conditions and results.…”

“…A new toughness characterization study of the Cu-SWCNT nanocomposite implant was carried out using a focused ion beam (FIB) machine (FEI Quanta 3D FEG, Ther-moFisher Scientific, Hillsboro, OR, USA) [16]. FIB is an effective tool to process samples for TEM measurements.…”

“…Therefore, if the kinetic energy of the bombardment ion is kept constant and the material is bombarded for a fixed amount of time, then the amounts of material removed will be proportional to the toughness of the material. Therefore, this new toughness characterization method is denoted as the toughness test via ion bombardment [16].…”

“…Before performing the bombardment test, an implant was cut with FIB to reveal its cross section (Figure 4) and the cross section surface was then made smooth via FIB polishing. A model was presented in [16] to relate the bombardment depth to the toughness of the Cu-SWCNT composite. The calculated toughness and the bombardment depths are also presented in Figure 4.…”

Highly Selective Detection of Hydrogen Sulfide by Simple Cu-CNTs Nanocomposites

“…One such method is the decoration of CNTs with nanoparticles of various metals and metal oxides (MO). New materials developed by this method have excellent properties for multifunctional applications, including sensors [13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Multiple types of sensors have been developed to date based on different materials, such as metal oxides, carbon-based nanomaterials, and their composites [20][21][22][23].…”