Evaluation of MWCNT Particles-Reinforced Magnesium Composite for Mechanical and Catalytic Applications

Aluminum, magnesium, and copper materials must have increased mechanical strength with enhanced wear and corrosion resistance. Substantial research focused on reinforcing hard particles into low-strength materials using stir casting or powder metallurgy. This work is intended to develop the magnesium hybrid matrix with the dispersion of boron carbide (B₄C) and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Hybrid magnesium composites are prepared, although the powder metallurgy route considers different process parameters. Statistical analysis such as Taguchi L16 orthogonal array is involved in this work. It is used to find the magnesium hybrid samples' minimum and maximum wear, corrosion, and microhardness levels. Powder metallurgy parameters are B₄C (3%, 6%, 9%, and 12%), MWCNT (0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, and 0.8%), ball milling (1, 2, 3, and 4 h), and sintering (3, 4, 5, and 6 h). The ball milling parameters are extremely influenced in the wear test analysis. Minimum wear losses are obtained as 0.008 g by influencing the 4 h ball milling process. Similarly, 3 h of sintering time offered a minimum corrosion rate of 0.00078 mm/yr. In microhardness analysis, the percentage of MWCNTs is highly implicated in narrow hardness resulting in the hardness value of 181. The hardness value is recorded using 0.2% MWCNTs in the magnesium alloy AZ80.