Agro-waste shaped porous Al2O3/Ni composites: Corrosion resistance performance and artificial neural network modelling

• Published in: Materials characterization Vol. 142; pp. 77 - 85
• Main Authors: Dele-Afolabi, T.T., Azmah Hanim, M.A., Norkhairunnisa, M., Sobri, S., Calin, R., Ismarrubie, Z.N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.08.2018
• Subjects: Agro-waste PFA; ALUMINIUM OXIDES; ANN modelling; CERAMICS; COMPOSITE MATERIALS; Composites; COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION; CORROSION; CORROSION RESISTANCE; MASS TRANSFER; MATERIALS SCIENCE; NICKEL; Porous alumina; POROUS MATERIALS; STABILITY; Porous alumina; Corrosion resistance; Composites; ANN modelling; Agro-waste PFA
• ISSN: 1044-5803; 1873-4189
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matchar.2018.05.026

In the present study, an analysis on the combined effect of nickel (Ni) reinforcement and pore former type in characterizing the corrosion behavior of composite porous alumina ceramics was performed. In order to showcase the potential of the new porous ceramics, pore-forming agents (PFAs) from rice husk (RH) and sugarcane bagasse (SCB) were used in shaping the plain and composite porous alumina samples having sample formulation of Al2O3-xNi-PFA; x = 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 wt%. Results showed that the emergence of a highly stable Ni3Al2SiO8 spinelloid phase in the RH-graded composites enhanced their chemical stability in the corrosive mediums (10 wt% NaOH and 20 wt% H2SO4) relative to the plain and the corresponding SCB-graded counterparts. An artificial neural network (ANN) model has been developed for predicting the corrosion behavior of the plain and composite porous alumina ceramics based on the experimental data. The developed ANN model satisfactorily predicted the percent mass losses of the porous ceramics in strong alkali and strong acid solutions with coefficient of determination (R2) of approximately 0.99. •Porous Al2O3/Ni composites were developed with agro-waste pore-forming agents.•The RH and SCB graded composites showed Ni3Al2SiO8 and NiAl2O4 spinels respectively.•Superior chemical stability was demonstrated by the Al2O3-2Ni-RH composite.•The ANN model demonstrated a good performance with R2 value of approx. 0.99.