Thermal Properties of Composite Materials Based on the Powder Systems “Copper–CNTs”

Abstract

The influence of the metal matrix filling 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 coefficient in this direction. It has been established that at a CNT concentration below the percolation threshold, experimental values of the thermal-conductivity coefficient of the composite materials are in good correlation with the values obtained with the Maxwell–Garnett theoretical model. It was noted for the first time that the Maxwell–Garnett theoretical model can be used to assess the distribution of a nanosize filler in a metal matrix.