Abstract
Milled form of mesophase pitch-based graphite fibers were coated with a titanium layer using chemical vapor deposition technique and Ti-coated graphite fiber/Cu composites were fabricated by hot-pressing sintering. The composites were characterized with X-ray diffraction, scanning/transmission electron microscopies, and by measuring thermal properties, including thermal conductivity and coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). The results show that the milled fibers are preferentially oriented in a plane perpendicular to the pressing direction, leading to anisotropic thermal properties of the composites. The Ti coating reacted with graphite fiber and formed a continuous and uniform TiC layer. This carbide layer establishes a good metallurgical interfacial bonding in the composites, which can improve the thermal properties effectively. When the fiber content ranges from 35 vol% to 50 vol%, the in-plane thermal conductivities of the composites increase from 383 to 407 W·(m·K)−1, and the in-plane CTEs decrease from 9.5 × 10−6 to 6.3 × 10−6 K−1.
Graphical abstract
The Ti coating reacted with graphite fiber and formed a continuous and uniform TiC layer during sintering process. This TiC interlayer caused the interface structure of the graphite fiber/Cu composite to change from mechanical bonding into metallurgical bonding, which can improve the thermal properties effectively.
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Acknowledgments
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51274040) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (FRF-TP-10-003B).
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Zhang, HM., He, XB., Qu, XH. et al. Microstructure and thermal properties of copper matrix composites reinforced with titanium-coated graphite fibers. Rare Met. 32, 75–80 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-013-0018-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-013-0018-0