Corrosion behaviour, thermal, and mechanical characteristics of sintered MXene-chromium reinforced AMC absorbers for solar heating, drying and desalination systems

Aluminum emerged as the best candidate for the solar still absorber due to its non-toxicity, light weight, and good thermal and photothermal properties. However, its poor stability in harsh environments, and fluctuating-temperatures conditions limits its wider applications in solar thermal systems. In this research, Ti3C2Tx Mxene/Cr reinforced Al matrix composites were successfully developed via the powder metallurgy. The effects of Cr and Cr/Ti3C2Tx incorporation on the microstructure, mechanical properties, thermal stability, and corrosion characteristics of the Al–Cr/Ti3C2Tx composites were investigated. The results show that the sintered Al–Cr composites comprise FCC/BCC structure resulted from AlCr intermetallic compounds while the Al–Cr/–Ti3C2Tx consisted of Al5Ti2, Ti3C2, CrC, Al, TiC and small quantity of Anatase phase, which was synthesized from AlCr and Ti3C2Tx during the sintering process. The microhardness and corrosion resistance of Al/Cr and Al/Cr–Ti3C2Tx composites increases with the increase of Cr and Ti3C2Tx content respectively, revealing 81.2%, and 320.1% that of pure Al with 12 wt% of Cr, and 3 wt% Ti3C2Tx Mxene and reduction of 47% and 98.93% in corrosion rate respectively. The diametric compression test revealed that sample containing 2 wt% Ti3C2Tx MXene is 51% stronger in tension and 74% more ductile than that of pure Al which was mainly due to the strengthening effect of Ti3C2Tx MXene and TiC. Stability analysis of the samples further confirms the stability of the composite with the primary Ti3C2Tx MXene and intermetallic peaks which remain unchanged after immersion, The TGA analysis reveals total weight loss of 0.037% with 12 wt% Cr with Al/Cr/ Ti3C2Tx MXene recording zero weight loss up to 800 °C. These findings highlight the potential of Ti3C2Tx MXene-Cr in Al matrix as an alternative material for solar thermal absorbers.

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