Cu/CNT nanocomposite fabrication with different raw material properties using a planetary ball milling process

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) based composite materials have gained a great deal of attention from both scientific and industrial community owing to the fascinating properties of CNTs. The present study reports the successful fabrication of composite materials based on copper (Cu) particles and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) using a planetary ball milling (PBM) technique with an optimized condition. Three different samples, namely (i) un-milled copper, (ii) un-milled copper with CNT and (iii) milled Cu with CNTs, have been used and were further processed using the PBM equipment in the presence of additional CNTs. The properties, in particular morphological and structural, of the prepared composites were comparatively analyzed. Various important parameters of PBM have been systematically explored in order to improve the properties of the composite materials. The results were systematically analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The interface changes between Cu powder and CNTs, characterized by FESEM, revealed that the CNTs were weakly attached onto the surface of Cu when a low grinding speed was used, whereas the CNTs were strongly embedded onto the Cu surface by applying high rotation speed of PBM.