Comprehensive study on graphene-based reinforcements in Al2O3–ZrO2 and Al2O3–Ti(C,N) systems and their effect on mechanical and tribological properties

Abstract The effect of graphene-based materials: multilayer graphene (MLG), graphene oxide (GO), and nickel-coated graphene (Gn-Ni-P) addition on the mechanical properties of commercial Al2O3–ZrO2 and Al2O3–Ti(C,N) materials is discussed in this paper. The influence of used reinforcements on relative density, microstructure, hardness, and fracture toughness was investigated. Moreover, the combination of strengthening effects deriving from the addition of graphene-based materials and the presence of zirconia or carbon nitride titanium particles was analysed. In order to determine the wear resistance of the obtained composites, tribology test was conducted. The added reinforcement had an evident effect on hardness of the obtained composites in both series, an almost 150 HV5 increase was observed for the TAZ+0.2 wt%GO composites. Fracture toughness remained unchanged or decreased, which was related to the complexity of the Al2O3 + ZrO2 + Ti (CN) + Graphene Family Nanomaterials system. Moreover, an almost 800% decrease of wear rate for the TACN based composite with a 0.2 wt% addition of GO was noted. Other composites also showed an increase in wear resistance depending on the type of matrix, the type of reinforcements and the load applied during the tribology test.