Impact of the reduced graphene oxide (RGO) on the ageing kinetics of Al-Mg-Si alloy with different grain sizes

Abstract We fabricated 0.4 wt. % reduced graphene oxide (RGO)-reinforced microlaminated Al-Mg-Si composite with two different grain sizes (layer thicknesses) of approximately 1μm and 2μm. It was found that the thinner layer, the more significant the RGO incorporation accelerated the ageing kinetics. The peak-aged RGO-Al composite with ∼1μm lamellae thickness had considerably higher mechanical strength and uniform elongation, as compared to their unreinforced counterpart and the composite with ∼2μm lamellae thickness. Such a strength-ductility synergy was likely to come from a combined effect of the refined grain size and the facilitated dislocation storage in the matrix grains.