Recent Progress on Regulating Strategies for the Strengthening and Toughening of High-Strength Aluminum Alloys

Zheng, Jia; Pang, Qiu; Hu, Zhili; Sun, Qian

doi:10.3390/ma15134725

Cited by 13 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 110 publications

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“…One of the most widely used metals for producing metal cans is aluminum, which has been a favorable candidate for engineering since the end of the 19th century because of the various characteristics of high conductivity, low density (2.7 g/cm 3 ), and exceptional corrosion resistance . Various aluminum alloys, including magnesium, manganese, zinc, silicon, and copper, have been developed for diverse applications, particularly to enhance mechanical strength. − Beverage cans, made from 3xxx and 5xxx series aluminum alloys, constitute a substantial portion of annual aluminum waste. , Therefore, proper recycling and reutilization of aluminum cans are imperative for environmental preservation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Upcycling Discarded Aluminum Cans into Nanoporous Membranes as an Eco-Friendly and Cost-Effective Strategy for Fabricating Polymer Nanoarrays and Self-Cleaning Surfaces

Lee,

Chen,

Zheng

et al. 2023

ACS Appl. Nano Mater.

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In recent years, most of the dedication to waste recycling and upcycling has been focused on plastic polymers. There is less development in utilizing discarded iron or aluminum cans for upcycling. In this study, we aim to prepare anodic aluminum oxide membranes from the top of discarded aluminum cans (T-AAO) and from the side of discarded aluminum cans (S-AAO) and demonstrate their application values. The T-AAO and S-AAO membranes are obtained by anodically oxidizing the top and the side of discarded aluminum cans separately, and the pore sizes of both membranes can be enlarged by using 5 wt % phosphoric acid with different pore-widening times. The physical, chemical, and morphological properties of T-AAO and S-AAO membranes are analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) (wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) and grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray (GIWAX)), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and contact angle measurement, and the properties are also compared with those of AAO membranes made by high-purity (99.997%) aluminum sheets. The thermal annealing method is also applied to aluminum cans for fabricating more stereoscopic AAO membranes attributed to changes of primary lattice planes. One of the application values of T-AAO and S-AAO membranes is demonstrated by infiltration of polymer materials, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and polystyrene (PS), into the nanopores of the membranes with the thermal annealing method, followed by releasing the polymer nanoarrays from the T-AAO and S-AAO membranes with NaOH solutions. Moreover, functional self-cleaning surfaces of T-AAO and S-AAO membranes are produced by grafting hydrophobic octadecyltrimethoxysilane (OTMS) and 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane (PFDTES) molecules. This work not only provides a feasible approach to recycle and upcycle aluminum waste but also gives a promising strategy for fabricating widely applicable nanomaterials in eco-friendly and low-cost ways.

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