relation: https://khub.utp.edu.my/scholars/10266/ title: Surfactant-decorated graphite nanoplatelets (GNPs) reinforced aluminum nanocomposites: sintering effects on hardness and wear creator: Baig, Z. creator: Mamat, O. creator: Mustapha, M. creator: Mumtaz, A. creator: Ali, S. creator: Sarfraz, M. description: The exceptional properties of graphene make it ideal as a reinforcement to enhance the properties of aluminum matrices and this critically depends on uniform dispersion. In this study, the dispersion issue was addressed by sonication and non-covalent surface functionalization of graphite nanoplatelets (GNPs) using two types of surfactant: anionic (sodium dodecyl benzene sulfate (SDBS)) and non-ionic polymeric (ethyl cellulose (EC)). After colloidal mixing with Al powder, consolidation was performed at two sintering temperatures (550 and 620°C). The structure, density, mechanical and wear properties of the nanocomposite samples were investigated and compared with a pure Al and a pure GNPs/Al nanocomposite sample. Noticeably, EC-based 0.5wt GNPs/Al samples showed the highest increment of 31 increase in hardness with reduced wear rate of 98.25 at 620°C, while a 22 increase in hardness with reduced wear rate of 96.98 at 550°C was observed, as compared to pure Al. Microstructural analysis and the overall results validate the use of EC-based GNPs/Al nanocomposites as they performed better than pure Al and pure GNPs/Al nanocomposite at both sintering temperatures. © 2018, University of Science and Technology Beijing and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. publisher: University of Science and Technology Beijing date: 2018 type: Article type: PeerReviewed identifier: Baig, Z. and Mamat, O. and Mustapha, M. and Mumtaz, A. and Ali, S. and Sarfraz, M. (2018) Surfactant-decorated graphite nanoplatelets (GNPs) reinforced aluminum nanocomposites: sintering effects on hardness and wear. International Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials, 25 (6). pp. 704-715. ISSN 16744799 relation: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85047786554&doi=10.1007%2fs12613-018-1618-3&partnerID=40&md5=6f1a4a2c2d799dda25238767b0f1b2c3 relation: 10.1007/s12613-018-1618-3 identifier: 10.1007/s12613-018-1618-3