Study of microstructure and interfaces in an aluminium-C60 composite material

This work deals with the study of microstructure and interfacial reactions in an aluminium-fullerene (Al/C(60)) composite produced by pressurized liquid metal infiltration (squeeze casting) of a tap-packed C(60) powder preform. The obtained composite shows a homogeneous distribution of C(60) crystals in the Al matrix, indicating that the original aggregated crystalline structure of the C(60) fullerenes was not disrupted during the composite fabrication process, even CC though there is evidence of partial sublimation of C(60). The C(60) crystals are well integrated in the matrix and there is no hint either of porosity or of weak interfacial bonding. At the interface between Al and C(60) rod-shaped and hexagonal plate-like phases are occasionally observed by TEM. These phases were identified as Al(4)C(3) by XRD and Raman spectroscopy and were shown to nucleate on very thin layers of amorphous carbon at the surface of the C(60) crystals. (C) 2003 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.