Enhancing the mechanical and electrical properties of CNTs/Cu composites by synthesizing WC nanoparticles on the surface of CNTs

Abstract

The trade-off between mechanical and electrical properties has been a long-standing challenge for carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/Cu composites. To alleviate such trade-off, a pre-decorated strategy, involving the introduction of WC nanoparticles on CNTs (WC@CNTs), is proposed to accomplish the prominent mechanical-electrical property synergy. It was found that WC was epitaxially grown on the CNTs, which renders the epitaxial orientation relationship (OR) as: (WC(001)//CNTs(0002)). Such epitaxial OR facilitates the robust WC-CNTs interface by reducing interfacial energy. Meanwhile, WC nanoparticles also enhance the bonding strength of CNTs-Cu interface by strong mechanical interlocking. The designed “CNTs-WC-Cu” interface not only guarantees accurate stress/strain transmission, but also enhances the interfacial conductivity by reducing interfacial scattering, which contributes to the considerable mechanical and electrical properties of WC@CNTs/Cu over CNTs/Cu. This research provides a feasible strategy for simultaneous improvement of the mechanical and electrical properties of composites.