Nanocarbon reinforced aluminium matrix (NRAM) composites: Fabrication, structure and properties

Recently, there is a significant demand of lightweight materials for advanced engineering applications namely automotive, sports, aerospace, electrical applications, etc. Aluminium or its alloy-based metal matrix nano-composite materials reinforced with various carbon based nanomaterials are considered to be one of the futuristic lightweight materials. Carbon nanomaterials have a few excellent properties which make them ideal nano reinforcing materials for various matrix phases. An attempt has been made in this article to review various carbon nanomaterials reinforced aluminium or its alloy matrix-based nano-composite materials, their fabrication, properties and prospective applications in various fields. This paper has identified a few challenges of the carbon nanomaterials reinforced aluminium matrix nanocomposites which can be undertaken by researchers in future.