Powder processing methodology for fabrication of Copper/Graphite composite materials with enhanced thermal properties

Adrien Morvan (1, 2) , Jean-Luc Grosseau-Poussard (3) , Nathalie Caillault (2) , Florence Delange (2) , Sophie Roure (2) , Pascal Lepretre (2) , Jean-François Silvain (1, 4)

1 ICMCB - Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux
2 SE - Schneider Electric
3 LaSIE - Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Ingénieur pour l'Environnement - UMR 7356
4 University of Nebraska–Lincoln

This study focuses on the powder processing methodology (PPM) for the fabrication of metal matrix composite using Graphite flakes (Grf) reinforced Copper (Cu). The manufacturing route involved (1) a reductive treatment of Grf powder to purify and increase its quality, (2) the mixing of the Cu and the Grf (0–40 vol%) powders with a fast and efficient Resonant Acoustic (RA) mixer, and finally (3) the cold and hot-pressing of composite powders. Comparison of PPM is made with literature and a usual method used in our laboratory. The quality of Grf after different steps was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy and XRD. Microstructure of the composite materials were analyzed by SEM. It was shown that this new PPM demonstrated better composite structural and thermal properties even at low volume fraction of Grf with a maximum of 630 W·m−1·K−1 obtained with 40 vol% of Grf at 70 °C.

Mots clés: Metal-matrix composites (MMCs); Thermal properties; Powder processing methodology

Domaines: Matériaux

Adrien Morvan, Jean-Luc Grosseau-Poussard, Nathalie Caillault, Florence Delange, Sophie Roure, et al.. Powder processing methodology for fabrication of Copper/Graphite composite materials with enhanced thermal properties. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 2019, 124, pp.105474. ⟨10.1016/j.compositesa.2019.105474⟩. ⟨hal-02158663⟩