The composites were prepared by choosing Al 6061 alloy which exhibits excellent casting properties and reasonable strength. The reinforment used is zircon. The liquid-metallurgy Vortex method has been employed to prepare the composites. The corrosion tests were conducted using weight loss, open circuit potential, potentiostatic, salt spray and stress corrosion methods in various corrodents.Composites are less prone to corrosion and pit formation than that of matrix alloy, which may be due to chemically inert zircon particles present in the metal matrix composites.

Heavy metal contamination of water is a grave environmental problem because of their potential toxic nature. Especially hexavalent chromium among the various heavy metals is a major global pollutant in this century. Threat to natural sources of water and hence to human health due to heavy metal pollution is of a serious degree. Selection of a method among the various technologies available merits adsorption of chromium by low cost materials as the best. This is a relatively new tool which has not been put to use on a large scale. Adsorption has evolved as the front line of defense for...