Abstract
Nanocomposite with a room-temperature ultra-low resistivity far below that of conventional metals like copper is considered as the next generation conductor. However, many technical and scientific problems are encountered in the fabrication of such nanocomposite materials at present. Here, we report the rapid and efficient fabrication and characterization of a novel nitrogen-doped graphene-copper nanocomposite. Silk fibroin was used as a precursor and placed on a copper substrate, followed by the microwave plasma treatment. This resulted nitrogen-doped graphene-copper composite possesses an electrical resistivity of 0.16 µΩ·cm at room temperature, far lower than that of copper. In addition, the composite has superior thermal conductivity (538 W/m·K at 25 °C) which is 138% of copper. The combination of excellent thermal conductivity and ultra-low electrical resistivity opens up potentials in next-generation conductors.
Highlights
Copper is the most common conductor used in electrical energy distribution, data transmission field, and semiconductor industry due to its excellent heat and electrical conductivity
What is more important is that at room temperature, the synthesized Nitrogen-doped graphene sheets (NGS)-Cu composite owns a resistivity of 0.16 μΩ·cm which is only 7.6% of pure Cu; whereas the thermal conductivity of the NGS-Cu composite is 538 W/m·K which is 138% of pure Cu
The synthesis of graphene layers, nitrogen doping and performing nanocomposite with copper were simultaneously done in one step process, which benefited from the unique structure and properties of silk fibroin protein and our microwave plasma heating process
Summary
Copper is the most common conductor used in electrical energy distribution, data transmission field, and semiconductor industry due to its excellent heat and electrical conductivity. Combing copper with high performance nanostructure carbon materials could, theoretically, create a novel composite conductor with a room temperature resistivity far below that of conventional metal copper (Cu)[3]. Achieving such a room temperature conductivity which is estimated by the theoretical model to be 50% below that of Cu remains great challenges. We report a simple route to fabricate NGS-Cu nanocomposite conductor with ultra-low electrical resistivity and high thermal conductivity using silk fibroin (SF) as precursor. What is more important is that at room temperature, the synthesized NGS-Cu composite owns a resistivity of 0.16 μΩ·cm which is only 7.6% of pure Cu; whereas the thermal conductivity of the NGS-Cu composite is 538 W/m·K which is 138% of pure Cu
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