Volume Fraction of Graphene Platelets in Copper-Graphene Composites

Abstract

Copper-graphene composite films were deposited on copper foil using electrochemical deposition. Four electrolyte solutions that each consist of 250 mL of graphene oxide suspension in distilled water and increasing volume of 0.2 M solution of CuSO4 in steps of 250 mL were used to deposit the composite films with and without a magnetic stirrer. Graphene oxide in the films was reduced to graphene by hydrogen treatment for 6 hours at 673 K (400 °C). The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction for identification of phases, scanning electron microscopy for distribution of graphene, energy dispersive spectrometry for evaluation of elemental composition, electrical resistivity and temperature coefficient of electrical resistance and thermal conductivity. Effective mean field analysis (EMA) was used to determine the volume fraction and electrical conductivity of graphene and interfacial thermal conductance between graphene and copper. The electrical resistivity was reduced from 2.031 to 1.966 μΩ cm and the thermal conductivity was improved from 3.8 to 5.0 W/cm K upon addition of graphene platelets to electrolytic copper. The use of stirrer during deposition of the films increased the average size and the thickness of the graphene platelets and as a result the improvement in electrical conductivity was lower compared to the values obtained without the stirrer. Using the EMA, the volume fraction of graphene platelets that was responsible for the improvement in the electrical conductivity was found to be lower than that for the improvement in the thermal conductivity. The results of the analysis are used to determine the volume fraction of the thinner and the thicker graphene platelets in the composite films.