Molten salt assisted solidification nanoprocessing of Al-TiC nanocomposites

Effective nanoparticle incorporation and dispersion have been long-standing challenges for solidification processing of metal matrix nanocomposites. This study reports a molten salt assisted method that enables an effective incorporation of TIC nanoparticles into molten aluminum to produce master nanocomposites with dense and well-dispersed nanoparticles. By dilution of this master nanocomposites into pure aluminum, Al-TiC nanocomposites with various concentrations of nanoparticles were readily fabricated. Microhardness of the nanocomposites was dramatically enhanced. This simple and scalable manufacturing process paves a practical way for mass solidification processing of metal matrix nanocomposites.