Composite Conductors Research Articles

Macro copper-graphene composites with enhanced electrical conductivity

Composites demonstrating enhanced electrical conductivity compared to copper have been highly sought after for their advantages in efficient energy transport behavior. While such conductors have been demonstrated in 1D (nanowires) and 2D (films) samples, achieving similar behavior in 3D has been challenging owing to the limitations of the synthesis techniques used. In this paper, novel macro-scale 3D copper conductors were demonstrated with increased electrical conductivity through the addition of graphene. Hot extrusion was used to manufacture 12 AWG copper-graphene composite wires with varying graphene content and defect density. Graphene defect density was measured using Raman spectroscopy. Results showed that the electrical conductivity of composites with low defect density graphene increased as a function of graphene content. Comparatively composites with high defect density graphene demonstrated lower electrical conductivity. This study provides first-of-its-kind evidence of 3D metal composites whose bulk electrical performance has been enhanced using graphene additive in minute quantities (15 ppm). Further developments in this area are essential to achieve high performance composite conductors that can improve energy transport efficiency and pave way for industrial adoption of such materials in the future.

Core-shell structure nanofibers-ceramic nanowires based composite electrolytes with high Li transference number for high-performance all-solid-state lithium metal batteries

Using all-solid-state electrolytes to replace flammable liquid electrolytes can effectively improve the energy density and safety of lithium metal batteries. However, low room temperature ionic conductivity and small Li transference number of these electrolytes have caused the increase in the growth of lithium dendrites and battery internal resistance. In this work, a novel polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) composite lithium ions conductor nanofiber membrane with core-shell structure and the low-cost Gd-doped CeO2 (GDC) ceramic nanowires with oxygen vacancies are simultaneously introduced into the polymer electrolyte to obtain composite electrolytes. The core layer PVDF and the shell layer PEO in the composite nanofibers can enhance the mechanical strength and provide a three-dimensional (3D) ordered transmission channel for lithium ions, respectively. Moreover, the GDC nanowires can further provide long-range and orderly transport channels for Li-ions. The optimized composite electrolyte has a high ionic conductivity of 2.3 × 10−4 S cm−1 at 30 °C, a fast Li+ transference number of 0.64 and a high mechanical strength up to 10.8 MPa. In addition, the composite electrolyte shows excellent compatibility with lithium metal anode, LiFePO4 cathode and high-voltage LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 (NMC) cathode. The assembled lithium symmetric battery can be cycled stably under large current densities at different capacities of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 mAh cm−2, and the Coulombic efficiency of the Li/NMC battery can always be maintained at around 99.2% during 250 cycles at 0.5 C. This work demonstrates that the novel electrolyte has excellent application prospects in the next generation all-solid-state lithium metal cells.

Electrical performance evolution and fatigue mechanisms of silver-filled polymer ink under uniaxial cyclic stretch

Flexible hybrid electronics rely upon compliant interconnects in order to maintain performance integrity in cases that require repeated elongation, including repeated stretching. A class of such conductive interconnects are composites of polymer with conductive particles that can be stretched at high strains without circuit failure. However, their fatigue response has so far remained largely unexplored and is essential prior to using in health monitoring applications. In this research, a stretchable silver-filled conductor is evaluated under high-strain cycling. In-situ techniques, including four-point resistance measurement and laser profilometry, are used to correlate changes in electrical performance to the fatigue response. Surface crack formation is extensive upon stretching during the first loading cycle, forming a heavily interconnected crack network at higher strains that does not immediately result in open circuit failure. Resistance increase with cycling is attributed to a gradual deepening of these cracks until their depths approach the film thickness, eventually leading to electrical failure. Fatigue life, the number of cycles required to reach a predetermined electrical performance limit, is shown to be most influenced by the applied strain amplitude. Using a normalized resistance increase limit of R/R 0 = 500, it is found that 500 μm wide conductive lines endure 23 cycles at 35% strain amplitude, but this becomes over 500 cycles when the amplitude is dropped to 5%. Sensitivity to mean strain, ϵ m, is relevant to strain amplitudes below 15%. In this manner, a composite conductor was shown to exhibit crack evolution behavior distinctly different from homogeneous metallic films.

A Modified Hybrid Integral Equation to Electromagnetic Scattering from Composite PEC-Dielectric Objects Containing Closed-Open PEC Junctions

To efficiently analyze the electromagnetic scattering from composite perfect electric conductor (PEC)-dielectric objects with coexisting closed-open PEC junctions, a modified hybrid integral equation (HIE) is established as the surface integral equation (SIE) part of the volume surface integral equation (VSIE), which employs the combined field integral equation (CFIE) and the electric field integral equation (EFIE) on the closed and open PEC surfaces, respectively. Different from the traditional HIE modeled for the objects whose closed and open PEC surfaces are strictly separate, the modified HIE can be applied to the objects containing closed-open junctions. A matrix equation is obtained by using the Galerkin’s method of moments (MoM), which is augmented with the spherical harmonics expansion-based multilevel fast multipole algorithm (SE-MLFMA), improved by the mixed-potential representation and the triangle/tetrahedron-based grouping scheme. Because in the improved SE-MLFMA, the memory usage for storing the radiation patterns of basis functions is independent of the SIE type in the VSIE, it is highly appropriate for the fast solution of the VSIE that contains the HIE. Various numerical experiments demonstrate that during the calculation of composite objects containing closed-open PEC junctions, the application of the modified HIE in the VSIE can give reliable results with fast convergence speed.

Solid-electrolyte interphase from nanowood for high-performance Li-metal batteries

Solid-electrolyte interphase from nanowood for high-performance Li-metal batteries

Synthesis and Characterizations of Barium Zirconate–Alkali Carbonate Composite Electrolytes for Intermediate Temperature Fuel Cells

Composite ionic conductors for intermediate temperature fuel cells (ITFC) were produced by a combination of yttrium-substituted barium zirconate (BaZr0.9Y0.1 O2.95, BZY) and eutectic compositions of alkali carbonates (Li2CO3, Na2CO3, and K2CO3, abbreviated L, N, K). These materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and impedance spectroscopy. The combination of BZY with alkali metal carbonate promotes the densification and enhances the ionic conductivity, which reaches 87 mS·cm−1 at 400 °C for the BZY–LNK40 composite. In addition, the increase of the conductivity as a function of hydrogen partial pressure suggests that protons are the main charge carriers. The results are interpreted in terms of the transfer of protons from the ceramic component to the carbonate phase in the interfacial region.

Highly stretchable conductors comprising composites of silver nanowires and silver flakes

Stretchable conductors are receiving increasing attention due to their potential applications in wearable electronics. Highly stretchable conductors are fabricated using composites of silver nanowires (Ag NWs) and flakes on elastic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates. The resistance of the Ag NW/flake composite conductor decreases to 1.9 × 10−4 Ohm·cm and increases by only 1.8 times after 100 stretch/release cycles at 100% peak strain. The improved conductivity and stretchability of the composite conductors are due to the synergy between the Ag NWs and Ag flakes because the Ag NWs connect the Ag flakes as conductive cables and the Ag flakes fill the gaps among the Ag NWs. Robust Ag NW/flake conductors are promising candidate for wearable electronics.

A multilayer coarse-grained molecular dynamics model for mechanical analysis of mesoscale graphene structures

Graphene-based structures have found widespread applications in the fabrication of superior composite materials, conductors, and sensors owing to their excellent properties. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation is often used to gain an in-depth understanding of the mechanical behaviors of those structures. However, MD simulation of mesoscale graphene structures faces great challenges due to its limited model size or high computation cost. In this work, we proposed a multilayer coarse-grained (CG) MD model which coarsens graphene layers in both planar and thickness directions. We systematically investigated the effect of coarse-graining on simulation accuracy in the CG-MD model. The optimal coarse-graining parameters for simulating the mechanical behaviors of graphene in tension, shearing, adhesion, bending, and self-folding were obtained. Our optimal CG-MD model enabled the simulation of relatively large-scale graphene structure with 1∼2 orders of magnitude increase in length and 3∼4 orders of magnitude reduction in computational time compared with the all-atom (AA) model, offering a valuable tool for designing and exploring graphene-based novel materials.

Sodium, Silver and Lithium-Ion Conducting β″-Alumina + YSZ Composites, Ionic Conductivity and Stability

Na-β″-alumina (Na2O.~6Al2O3) is known to be an excellent sodium ion conductor in battery and sensor applications. In this study we report fabrication of Na- β″-alumina + YSZ dual phase composite to mitigate moisture and CO2 corrosion that otherwise can lead to degradation in pure Na-β″-alumina conductor. Subsequently, we heat-treated the samples in molten AgNO3 and LiNO3 to respectively form Ag-β″-alumina + YSZ and Li-β″-alumina + YSZ to investigate their potential applications in silver- and lithium-ion solid state batteries. Ion exchange fronts were captured via SEM and EDS techniques. Their ionic conductivities were measured using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Both ion exchange rates and ionic conductivities of these composite ionic conductors were firstly reported here and measured as a function of ion exchange time and temperature.

Effect of Direction of External Magnetic Field on Minimum Propagation Current of a Composite Conductor for LHD Helical Coils

The conductor for helical coils of the Large Helical Device consists of a Rutherford-type NbTi/Cu cable, a pure aluminum stabilizer, and a copper sheath. The dimensions of the conductor and the stabilizer cross-sections are 18.0 mm × 12.5 mm and 12.4 mm × 5.2 mm, respectively. The measured cold-end recovery current in the magnetic field parallel to the shorter side (B//12.5) is clearly lower than that in the field parallel to the longer side (B//18.0) because of the difference in magnetoresistance by Hall currents. Since the minimum propagation current Imp is important to determine the upper limit of operation current, Imp has been measured for two types of one-turn coil samples, which were bent flatwise (B//18.0) and edgewise (B//12.5) with the inner radius of 0.14 m to extend the length in the uniform background field of the test facility. The measured Imp at B//12.5 is almost the same as that at B//18.0 in spite of the large difference in the steady-state resistance. Imp is considered to be determined by the heat balance before the current diffuses deeply into the stabilizer.

Ultra-Thin Solenoid and Cryostat Development for Novel Detector Magnets

In the scope of the Future Circular electron positron Collider study (FCC-ee), the IDEA detector is developed. It comprises a superconducting solenoid with free bore of 4 m, 6 m long and a central magnetic field of 2 T. The positioning of the magnet between the inner tracker and the electronic calorimeter heavily constrains the magnet design, as it is required to have the lowest possible radiation length, so minimum thickness and lowest density material. With respect to the classical solution of a solenoid enclosing the calorimeters, a cost reduction of about 50% is expected due to size reduction. An optimization of the different components of the magnet system has been carried out, resulting in the development of a new composite high-strength conductor that can be used to build a 30 mm thin solenoid. The quench analysis of the solenoid will be presented as it is of critical importance given the high energy density in the magnet of 21 kJ/kg. A cryostat made of concentric aluminium shells would account for about 50% of the radiation length of the magnet and most of this material is used in the outer vacuum shell of the cryostat to prevent buckling. In order to further reduce the radiation length, two fundamentally different approaches are being analysed. The first method focuses on reducing drastically the outer shell thickness. This leads to use honeycomb composites, reinforcing bars and corrugated shells for the outer shell of the cryostat. The second approach consists of supporting very thin cryostat shells directly on the solenoid cold mass using proper support. This can be achieved by replacing the thick walls and MLI insulation by a material that can sustain 1 atm while having low radiation length and low thermal conductivity. Cryogel Z has shown promising properties and its suitability for this project is being analysed. This novel approach has never been used so far for superconducting magnets.

Exact results for weakly nonlinear composites and implications for homogenization methods

Weakly nonlinear composite conductors are characterized by position-dependent dissipation potentials expressible as an additive composition of a quadratic potential and a nonquadratic potential weighted by a small parameter. This additive form carries over to the effective dissipation potential of the composite when expanded to first order in the small parameter. However, the first-order correction of this asymptotic expansion depends only on the zeroth-order values of the local fields, namely, the local fields within the perfectly linear composite conductor. This asymptotic expansion is exploited to derive the exact effective conductivity of a composite cylinder assemblage exhibiting weak nonlinearity of the power-law type (i.e., power law with exponent m=1+δ, such that |δ|≪1), and found to be identical (to first order in δ) to the corresponding asymptotic result for sequentially laminated composites of infinite rank. These exact results are used to assess the capabilities of more general nonlinear homogenization methods making use of the properties of optimally selected linear comparison composites.

Influence of Microcracks on Silver/Polydimethylsiloxane-Based Flexible Microstrip Transmission Lines

Microcrack is commonly seen as a defect in materials that affects the performance of flexible radio frequency (RF) devices. Here, we investigate the influence of microcracks on the RF characteristics of flexible microstrip by stretching flexible microstrip that is based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate and an Ag microparticles/PDMS (AgMP/PDMS) composite conductor. The RF characteristics of the microstrip were monitored with a variety of tensile displacements. An equivalent circuit model of the microstrip with microcracks was proposed to reveal the mechanisms. The fitting results matched the actual measurement well. In addition, the morphology of the microcracks was characterized by SEM and the direct-current (DC) resistance was monitored. The results show that the changes in equivalent circuit element parameters (R, L, C) are due to the change in the conductive pathways, which affect the transmission and reflection of the RF signals.

Copper and steel-copper composite materials with high electrical properties

Experimental samples of steel-copper and copper composite conductors, including those from copper waste, were obtained according to the developed technology. The physical and operational properties of the copper composite material were investigated, special attention was paid to the wear resistance, which was tested as part of the working pantograph of the electric train, and the electrical conductivity of the obtained copper composite was investigated. It is shown that the electrical conductivity of the composite material made of copper is higher in the range of operating temperatures of the pantograph, and the wear resistance is much higher than that of the sample made of standard copper material.

A Modified Four‐Probe Method to Separate Ionic Conductance from Composite Conductors

AbstractAs one of the most important phenomena in electrochemistry and biosystems, ion transport often suffers from the difficulty of effective measurement in electron‐/ion‐conductive composite components. Hence, by modifying the testing probes with an ion‐conductive polymer, a new four‐probe method is invented to separate ion transport within composite materials. By adopting this method, the ionic conductance of the electronic conductors could be precisely measured and the ion migration behaviors in various environments could also be investigated.

Printable elastic silver nanowire-based conductor for washable electronic textiles

Printable elastic conductors promote the wide application of consumable electronic textiles (e-textiles) for pervasive healthcare monitoring and wearable computation. To assure a clean appearance, the e-textiles require a washing process to clean up the dirt after daily use. Thus, it is crucial to develop low-cost printable elastic conductors with strong adhesion to the textiles. Here, we report a composite elastic conductor based on Ag nanowires (NWs) and polyurethane elastomer. The composite could be dispersed into ink and easily printed onto textiles. One-step print could form robust conductive coatings without sealing on the textiles. Interestingly, the regional concentration of Ag NWs within the polyurethane matrix was observed during phase inversion, endowing the elastic conductor with a low percolation threshold of 0.12 vol.% and high conductivity of 3,668 S·cm−1. Thanks to the high adhesion of the elastic conductors, the resulted e-textiles could withstand repeated stretching, folding, and machine washing (20 times) without obvious performance decay, which reveals its potential application in consumable e-textiles.

Thermal-Hydraulic Analysis on Quench Behavior of Indium-Tin Soldered REBCO Composite Conductor

The second-generation high-temperature superconductor REBCO is one of the most valuable candidates that meet the requirements of future magnetic confinement fusion device. Quench behavior of an improved high-current REBCO composite conductor is simulated by a 1-D finite element method. Indium-tin alloy foil placed in the gap between stabilizer, jacket, and superconducting tape stacks can significantly reduce thermal contact resistance, which leads to an increase on the minimum quench energy of composite conductor. Short perturbations have a better response to this improvement than long perturbations, due to the low normal zone propagation velocity (NZPV) of REBCO conductor. For short perturbation (perturbation length (l <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</sub> = 0.1 m), the peak temperature in cable and helium drops 12.76 and 17.99%, respectively, after soldered. Due to the change of heat transfer in a composite conductor caused by helium wave propagation, the development and maximum length of normal zone significantly decrease from 13.06 to 4.78 m under long perturbation (l <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</sub> = 10 m) circumstance. High current REBCO composite conductor with proper indium-tin alloy soldered can enhance the stability and safety of composite conductors under severe working conditions, but it also slows down the NZPV and hinders the quench detection of high-temperature superconducting magnet.

Development of cryogenic tensile testing apparatus for lattice strain measurement using synchrotron radiation for REBCO composite conductors

REBa2Cu3O7−δ (REBCO) composite tapes are candidate conductors for future accelerator magnets. Given that REBCO is a brittle oxide film, stress/strain management is important in the mechanical design of a magnet. Therefore, the strain state of a superconducting film should be predicted under various operating conditions. A quantum beam is a useful tool in evaluating the strain state of a superconducting material in a composite conductor. Although various cryogenic tensile testing machines, in combination with neutron beam and synchrotron radiation, have been developed, they are not necessarily optimized for measuring highly textured materials such as REBCO films. This study reports a novel cryogenic tensile testing apparatus that can be used at the beamline of a synchrotron radiation facility. In this system, a superconducting tape is cooled using a Gifford–McMahon (GM) cryocooler through 2.5 m long thermal links made of 5 N high-purity aluminum. This enables a compact cryogenic loading system that can be mounted on the goniometer of a beamline. Lattice strain measurements using synchrotron radiation were conducted at 40 K, 77 K, and 300 K for a commercially available (Y,Gd)BCO coated conductor at BL28B2 in SPring-8. The onset strain of film fracture determined from the lattice strain measurement at 77 K agreed well with the irreversible strain of critical current at the same temperature. The residual and fracture strain of the (Y,Gd)BCO film at 77 K was evaluated as well.

Surface modification of Ni-rich LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 cathode materials via a novel mechanofusion alloy route

This study aimed to prepare a composite coating material comprising a solid ionic conductor of lithium aluminum titanium phosphate (Li1.4Al0.4Ti1.6(PO4)3, LATP) and porous carbon through a sol-gel method. LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (LNCM811) cathode material with dual-functional composite conductors (i.e., LATP@porous carbon), denoted as LATP-PC, was prepared. The dry-coating method, also called the “mechanical-fusion alloy route,” was used to modify Ni-rich LNCM811 cathode materials. X-ray diffraction (XRD), micro-Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed that the LATP ionic conductor generated herein was uniformly deposited on 3D porous carbon and served as a dual-functional composite coating on LNCM811. Furthermore, the capacity retention of LATP-PC@LNCM811 was approximately 85.57% and 80.86% after 100 cycles at −20 °C and 25 °C, respectively. By contrast, pristine LNCM811 had the capacity retention of 78% and 74.96% at −20 °C and 25 °C, respectively. Furthermore, the high-rate capability of the LATP-PC@LNCM811 material was markedly enhanced to 169.81 mAh g−1 at 10C relative to that of pristine LNCM811, which was approximately 137.67 mAh g−1. The electrochemical performance of LNCM811 was enhanced by the uniform dual-conductive composite coating. The results of the study indicate that the LATP-PC@LNCM811 composite material developed herein is a potentially promising material for future high-energy Li-ion batteries.

Impact of Transverse Compression on the Sub-Element RRP Nb3Sn Strand

For developing a 14 Tesla whole-body superconducting magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) magnet, a new kind of a Nb3Sn composite conductor with Rutherford cable-in-channel (RIC) structure is adopted. This structure of the conductor has a high current carrying capacity with an increased thermal and mechanical stability. The Rutherford cable is the core component of the RIC conductor, and controlling the deformation and performance degradation of Nb3Sn strand are the key points in Rutherford cable development. The strand would experience plastic deformation during the compaction process, which causes sub-elements damage and degrades the transport performance and residual resistivity ratio (RRR). In this paper, the impact of transverse compression on the sub-element of RRP 84/91 Nb3Sn strand before heat treatment was studied with experiments and finite element model (FEM), the experiment results and FEM results were compared and analyzed. Experiment results show that the transverse deformation of the strand should be kept below 20% to avoid the Nb barrier from breaking. The deformation analysis result of the FEM simulation shows good agreement with experimental results.