THERMAL PROPERTIES OF COMPOSITE MATERIALS BASED ON THE POWDER SYSTEMS "COPPER–CNTs"

The infl uence of the metal matrix fi lling with carbon nanotubes on the thermal properties of copper-based powder composite materials has been studied. It has been revealed that the powder systems ″copper–CNTs″ obtained according to the powder-metallurgy technology by electric-contact sintering possess anisotropic thermal conductivity under certain conditions. It has been found that during uniaxial molding, in the process of electric-contact sintering, CNTs are oriented in one direction, which leads to a rise in the values of the thermal-conductivity coeffi cient in this direction. It has been established that at a CNT concentration below the percolation threshold, experimental values of the thermal-conductivity coeffi cient of the composite materials are in good correlation with the values obtained with the Maxwell–Garnett theoretical model. It was noted for the fi rst time that the Maxwell–Garnett theoretical model can be used to assess the distribution of a nanosize fi ller in a metal matrix.
   
Author:  V. N. Pasovets, V. A. Kovtun, M. Mihovski, and Yu. M. Pleskachevskii
Keywords:  power metallurgy, electric-contact sintering, composite materials, carbon nanotubes, thermalconductivity coeffi cient
Page:  1267