Effects of Cyclic Cryogenic Treatment on Pure Magnesium and the Effect of Nano ZnO Particles Processed using Microwave Sintering

Abstract

The present study, for the first time, reports the effect of cyclic cryogenic treatment (cyclic CT) on pure magnesium and Mg/2 wt.% ZnO (Mg₂ZnO) nanocomposite. Addition of ZnO particles enhanced density of the Mg and nanocomposite material to a maximum of ~30% and ~ 68%, respectively after 2 cycles of CT. Basal plane strengthened after cyclic CT in both materials, irrespective of number of cycles. Addition of ZnO particles showed an enhancement in 0.2 CYS, UCS, fracture strain, and energy absorbed by ~13.88%, ~26%, ~15%, and ~64%, respectively. However, the effect of cyclic CT on pure magnesium was not considerably effective, and properties remained nearly similar to the as-extruded condition. On the contrary, Mg₂ZnO composite material showed a maximum enhancement of ~11%, ~5%, ~8% in 0.2 CYS, UCS, and energy absorbed, while the fracture strain remained constant. Though 1 cycle of cryogenic treatment for pure Mg showed slightly better results, the mechanical properties are almost similar for all cycles. Meanwhile, 2 cycles of cryogenic treatment is more effective in realizing superior combination of mechanical properties in the case of nanocomposite.

Keywords

magnesium alloys / magnesium nanocomposite / cyclic cryogenic composite / compression behavior

Author Contributions

P.D.: Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Visualization, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing; M.J.: Data curation, Resources, Formal analysis, Investigation, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Methodology, Writing—review & editing; D.S.: Supervision, Project administration; M.G.: Conceptualization, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Methodology, Project administration, writing—review & editing. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research received no funding.

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Juraimi Bin Madon for his assistance in extruding the materials studied in this work.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest. Given the role as Editor-in-Chief, Manoj Gupta was not involved in the peer review of this paper and had no access to information regarding its peer-review process. Full responsibility for the editorial process of this paper was delegated to another editor of the journal.

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