NANOPARTICLE DISPERSION IN LIQUID METAL USING CONTACTLESS ELECTROMAGNETIC EFFECT
Mikus Milgrāvis (Master’s student)
In order to improve the mechanical and thermal properties of metal as well as to improve corrosion and radiation resistance, one of the methods is to disperse small size nanoparticles in metal. The uniform dispersion of nanoparticles is technically challenging because the particles tend to agglomerate. Our solution is to disperse the particles using contactless electromagnetic effect on the sample.
When acting on the sample simultaneously with AC and DC magnetic field, pressure oscillation occurs. If these values of the field are sufficiently high, it is possible to reach the cavitation threshold in liquid metal. Cavitation bubble collapses are known to create microscale jets with a potential to break nanoparticle agglomeration and disperse them. In the experiments, different samples are melted and their acoustic signal is captured by piezo sensors. Article dispersion is analyzed by scanning electron microscope and x-ray fluorescence microscope.