Production and Investigation of Al2O3/Ag Nanocomposite Properties by Gel-casting

In present work, Al2O3/0.5 wt% Ag nanocomposite was synthesized by using gelcasting process from water soluble precursors in order to provide the second phase. Silver nitrate is used as the source of silver nanoparticles in alumina matrix. With investigating the several dispersants on the rheology properties of the slurry, it was found that the Dolapix ET85 with appropriateconcentration 1.5 wt% is the best dispersant. The existence of silver nanoparticles and homogenous dispersion of these particles in alumina matrix was investigated by scanningelectron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images revealed that the average particle size of silver nanoparticles was about 10 nm.