Thermal Plasma Synthesis of Different Alloys and Intermetallics from Ball Milled Al-Mo and Al-Ni Powder Systems

Lightweight alloys have great importance for car manufacturers that aim to produce safer, lighter, and more environmentally friendly vehicles. As a result, it is essential to develop new lightweight alloys, with superior properties to conventional ones, respecting the demands of the market. Al and its alloys are good candidates for reducing the overall weight of vehicles. The objective of this research was to understand the possibility to synthesize different Al alloys and intermetallics by implementing the plasma system and using two different Al-Ni and Al-Mo powder systems. This was done by separately injecting non-reacted raw Al-Ni and Al-Mo composite powder systems into the plasma reactor. In the first step, the milling parameters were optimized to generate Al-Ni and Al-Mo composite powders, with sizes over about 30 µm, having, respectively, a homogeneous mixture of elemental Al and Ni, and Al and Mo in their particles. Each of the composite powders was then injected separately into the plasma system to provide conditions for the reaction of their elements together. The obtained Al-Ni and Al-Mo powders were then studied using different methods such as scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. Regardless of the initially used powder system, the obtained powders were consisting of large spherical particles surrounded by a cloud of fine porous particles. Different phases such as Al, AlNi₃, Al₃Ni₂, and AlNi were detected in the particles of the Al-Ni powder system and Al, Mo, AlMo₃, MoO₃, and MoO₂ in the Al-Mo powder system.