A Facile and Cost-Effective Approach to Fabricate In-Situ Synthesized Graphene Nanosheet Reinforced 316L Stainless Steel

A facile and cost-effective approach was used to fabricate in situ synthesized graphene nanosheet reinforced 316L stainless steel (GNS-316L), which involved in situ synthesis of graphene nanosheets (GNS) in 316L stainless steel (316L) powder by three-dimensional vibration milling of 316L powder with graphite paper as the carbon source, along with consolidation via spark plasma sintering. The microstructure was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the mechanical properties were determined by tensile tests. As a result, a microhardness of 408 HV and an ultimate tensile strength of 508 MPa can be attained for the 0.05 wt.% GNS-316L, which are respectively enhanced by 35% and 23% as compared to 316L stainless steel. The merits of this method are its low cost, simple preparation, and absence of harmful chemical reagents used during the preparation process. This work can open up practical applications for preparing GNS reinforced metal matrix materials in large-scale production.