Synthesis and Thermal Adsorption Characteristics of Silver-Based Hybrid Nanocomposites for Automotive Friction Material Application

Advances in friction materials are imposed on developing multiceramic reinforced hybrid nanocomposites with superior tribomechanical properties. The silver-based matrix metals are gained significance in various applications like bearing, ratchet, and electrical contacts due to their high frictional resistance and good thermal and chemical stability compared to traditional metals. The present research is to develop silver-based hybrid nanocomposites containing alumina (Al2O3) and silicon carbide (SiC) nanoparticles of 50 nm mixing with the ratio of 0 wt% Al2O3/0 wt% SiC, 5 wt% Al2O3/0 wt% SiC, and 5 wt% Al2O3/5 wt% SiC via the semisolid vacuum stir-cast technique. The vacuum technology minimizes casting defects and increases composite properties. The casted composite samples are subjected to study the effect of reinforcement on thermal adsorption, conductivity, diffusivity, and frictional resistance. The composite containing 5 wt% Al2O3np/5 wt% SiCnp is to find optimum thermal and frictional behaviour. The thermal adsorption and frictional resistance are increased by 30% and 27% compared to unreinforced cast silver. The Ag/5 wt% Al2O3np/5 wt% SiCnp hybrid nanocomposite is recommended for automotive friction-bearing applications

Synthesis, Thermal Adsorption, and Energy Storage Calibration of Polysulfone Nanocomposite Developed with GNP/CNT Nanofillers

The growth of polymer-based materials is becoming requisite in various industrial applications like energy storage, automobile, membrane, and orthopaedics, due to advantages over conventional metallic metal, such as less weight, superior corrosion resistance, ease of the process, and good chemical stability. The current research work is to synthesize the polysulfone (PSU) nanocomposite consisting of 2 wt%, 4 wt%, and 6 wt% of graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) and 3 wt%, 5 wt%, and 7 wt% of carbon nanotube (CNT) nanofillers via cast solution technique. The synthesized composite microstructural, heat storage, and thermal adsorption characteristics are studied. The scanning electron microscopic examination for both PSU/GNP and PSU/CNT composites illustrates good interfacial bonded PSU structure with the uniform distribution of GNP and CNT nanofillers. Due to the effect of percolation, the thermal adsorption characteristics and heat storage of PSU nanocomposite were increased progressively with the additions of GNP/CNT. The PSU composite contained 6 wt% GNP and 7 wt% CNT nanofillers, which showed effective thermal conductivity of 1.23 W/m.K and 1.52 W/m.K, which is 1.7 times larger than the unreinforced polysulfone. Interestingly, the increased temperature of the glass transition decreased the thermal expansion of the nanocomposite