Abstract
The performance of Copper (Cu) can be enhanced by the addition of carbon nanotubes (CNT) as reinforcement in order to utilize it for prolonged industrial applications, where the mechanical and thermal properties are often appropriate for them. The aim of the current work is to develop the Cu/CNT composite products via novel molecular level mixing (MLM) technique followed by cold isostatic pressing (CIP) and microwave sintering (MW). Besides, the results are compared with the sample processed through uniaxial compaction (UA) followed by either conventional sintering (CS) or microwave sintering (MW) technique. The grain size of CIP-MW processed composites is found to be enhanced with size of CNT diameter, CNT content and sintering time in comparison to that of Copper. The maximum properties of Cu/CNT composites are obtained irrespective of the size of CNT diameter as follows: Relative density - 93.8%, Hardness - 83.2 ± 2.1 VHN, Electrical conductivity - 50.4 ± 0.2 MS/m and thermal conductivity - 372.8 W/mK. The thermal conductivity of CIP-MW processed Cu/CNT composites is found to have superior characteristics in comparison to that of UA-CS and UA-MW processing techniques and the reported results are at par with the highly expensive and high-end technique like spark plasma sintering.
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