Thermal properties of carbon nanotube/nickel composites fabricated by hetero aggregation

Carbon nanotube (CNT) has excellent feature like low density, high strength, and high thermal conductivity. The metal-based CNT composite is expected as a light and high strength material or the heat radiation material for the application to automobile and aircraft parts, etc. Such that the development of CNT-metal matrix composite is gaining wide research attention. Since CNTs are easy to agglomerate, however, it is difficult to disperse them into a metal matrix homogeneously. To overcome these problems, in this study, CNT-Nickel matrix composite was fabricated by using hetero aggregation and spark plasma sintering method. Slurry precursors with homogeneously dispersed CNT were obtained, with optimum in amount of ethanol. The composites were densified up to more than 99% of relative density by sintering these precursors. Additionally, dispersion and orientation of CNTs were verified by FE-SEM observation of microstructure. The thermal conductivity of the composite was increased by about 10% or less at room temperature. Thermal anisotropy were indicated.