Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Hardness and electrical conductivity of uncoated and silver coated carbon nanotubes reinforced copper nanocomposites

  • Published:
Sādhanā Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In the present study, carbon nanotube reinforced copper nanocomposites were fabricated using the powder metallurgy technique which includes ball milling and hot pressing. The carbon nanotube weight percentage in the nanocomposite was varied from 0.25 to 1.50% in the steps of 0.25%. Further, to improve the interfacial bonding between the carbon nanotubes and copper matrix, the carbon nanotubes were coated with silver using the electroless deposition method. The sintered and hot pressed copper nanocomposites with uncoated and silver-coated carbon nanotubes were subjected to optical and scanning electron microscope studies to understand the dispersion of nanotubes. The density, microhardness and electrical conductivity of developed nanocomposites were studied. The dispersion of nanotubes was found to be uniform throughout the copper matrix resulting in the improvement in microhardness. Especially when compared with sintered samples, the hot-pressed nanocomposites with silver-coated carbon nanotubes showed significant improvement in microhardness however beyond 0.75% content the microhardness for samples was found to drop. The electrical conductivity of nanocomposites was found to decrease with the increase in the MWCNT content which was attributed to the clustering of MWCNTs due to strong van der Waal forces and the increase in the number of interfaces between MWCNTs and copper matrix.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Koppad P G, Ram H R A, Ramesh C S, Kashyap K T and Koppad R G 2013 On thermal and electrical properties of multiwalled carbon nanotubes/copper matrix nanocomposites. J. Alloys Compd. 580: 527–532

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Varol T and Canakci A 2015 Microstructure, electrical conductivity and hardness of multilayer graphene/copper nanocomposites synthesized by flake powder metallurgy. Met. Mater. Inter. 21: 704–712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Han X, Huang Y, Wang J, Zhang S, Ding Z and Li T 2021 Fabrication of graphite films/copper composites by vacuum hot pressing for high-efficiency thermal management property. Compos. Commun. 24: 100665

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Yu M, Files B S, Arepalli S and Ruoff R S 2000 Tensile Loading of ropes of single wall carbon nanotubes and their mechanical properties. Phys. Rev. Lett. 84: 5552–5555

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Wong E W, Sheehan P E and Lieber C M 1997 Nanobeam mechanics: Elasticity, strength, and toughness of nanorods and nanotubes. Science 277: 1971–1975

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Ebbesen T W, Lezec H J, Hiura H, Bennett J W, Ghaemi H F and Thio T 1996 Electrical conductivity of individual carbon nanotubes. Nature 382: 54–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Miyoshia K, Street K W Jr, Wal R L V, Andrews R and Sayir A 2005 Solid lubrication by multiwalled carbon nanotubes in air and in vacuum. Tribol. Lett. 19: 191–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Izmailov V V, Drozdova E I, Chernogorova O P, Potapova I N, Novoselova M V and Ekimov E A 2015 Electrical contact properties of a composite material with a copper matrix reinforced by superelastic hard carbon. Russ. Metall. 2015: 376–380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Rajkumar K and Aravindan S 2011 Tribological studies on microwave sintered copper-carbon nanotube composites. Wear 270: 613–621

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Nayan N, Shukla A K, Chandran P, Bakshi S R, Murthy S V S N, Pant B and Venkitakrishnan P V 2017 Processing and characterization of spark plasma sintered copper/carbon nanotube composites. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 682: 229–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Babu R V and Kanagaraj S 2019 Sintering behaviour of copper/carbon nanotube composites and their characterization. Adv. Powder Technol. 30: 2200–2210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Koppad P G, Kashyap K T, Shrathinth V, Shetty T A and Koppad R G 2013 Microstructure and microhardness of carbon nanotube reinforced copper nanocomposites. Mater. Sci. Technol. 29: 605–609

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Zheng Z, Liu J, Tao J, Li J, Zhang W, Li X and Xue H 2021 Effect of electroless coatings on the mechanical properties and wear behavior of oriented multiwall carbon nanotube-reinforced copper matrix composites. Nanomaterials 11: 2982

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Zhao S, Zheng Z, Huang Z, Dong S, Luo P, Zhang Z and Wang Y 2016 Cu matrix composites reinforced with aligned carbon nanotubes: mechanical, electrical and thermal properties. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 675: 82–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Junhui N, Chengchang J, Xian J, Yafeng Z, Na S and Yi L 2011 Fabrication, microstructures, and properties of copper matrix composites reinforced by molybdenum-coated carbon nanotubes. Rare Met. 30: 401–407

    Google Scholar 

  16. Shakibhamedan S, Sheibani S and Ataie A 2021 High performance Cu matrix nanocomposite fabricated through spark plasma sintering of Cu and Cu-coated CNT. Met. Mater. Inter. 27: 4271–4285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Lee D, Sim J, Kim W, Moon C, Cho W and Baik S 2015 Enhanced electrical conductivity and hardness of silver-nickel composites by silver-coated multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Nanotechnology 26: 295705

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Nayan N, Murty S V S N, Sharma S C, Sreekumar K and Sinha P P 2012 Electroless coating of silver on multiwall carbon nanotubes. Mater. Sci. Forum 710: 774–779

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Karthik L, Kumar G, Kirthi A V, Rahuman A A and Rao K V B 2014 Streptomyces sp. LK3 mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles and its biomedical application. Bioprocess Biosyst. Eng. 37: 261–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Choi J, Rhee K and Park S 2015 Influence of electrolessly silver-plated multi-walled carbon nanotubes on thermal conductivity of epoxy matrix nanocomposites. Compos. B. Eng. 80: 379–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Burke J E 1957 Role of grain boundaries in sintering. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 40: 80–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Bembalge O B and Panigrahi S K 2019 Thermal stability, grain growth kinetics, and mechanical properties of bulk ultrafine-grained AA6063/SiC composites with varying reinforcement sizes. Metall. Mater. Trans. A 50: 4288–4306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Munoz A, Savoini B, Monge M A, Ortega Y and Dura O J 2021 Fabrication and characterization of Cu reinforced with Y-enriched particles following a novel powder metallurgy route. Nucl. Mater. Energy 29: 101075

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Choi H J, Shin J H and Bae D H 2011 Grain size effect on the strengthening behavior of aluminum-based composites containing multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Compos. Sci. Technol. 71: 1699–1705

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Chang S and Chang T 2007 Grain size effect on nanomechanical properties and deformation behavior of copper under nanoindentation test. J. Appl. Phys. 101: 033507

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Mendoza M E, Campos A P, Xing Y, Belle D C and Solorzano I G 2020 Significant decrease of electrical resistivity by carbon nanotube networks in copper-MWCNTs nanocomposites: a detailed microstructure study. Diam. Relat. Mater. 110: 108083

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Akbarpour M R, Alipour S, Farvizi M and Kim H S 2019 Mechanical, tribological and electrical properties of Cu-CNT composites fabricated by flake powder metallurgy method. Arch. Civ. Mech. Eng. 19: 694–706

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Zuo T et al. 2020 Enhanced electrical conductivity and hardness of copper/carbon nanotubes composite by tuning the interface structure. Mater. Lett. 280: 128564

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Lu L, Shen Y, Chen X, Qian L and Lu K 2004 Ultrahigh strength and high electrical conductivity in copper. Science 304: 422–426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Daoush W M, Lim B K, Mo C B, Nam D H and Hong S H 2009 Electrical and mechanical properties of carbon nanotube reinforced copper nanocomposites fabricated by electroless deposition process. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 513–514: 247–253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Uddin S M et al. 2010 Effect of size and shape of metal particles to improve hardness and electrical properties of carbon nanotube reinforced copper and copper alloy composites. Compos. Sci. Technol. 70: 2253–2257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Babu R V and Kanagaraj S 2018 Thermal, electrical and mechanical characterization of microwave sintered copper/carbon nanotubes (CNT) composites against sintering duration, CNT diameter and its concentration. J. Mater. Proc. Technol. 258: 296–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Chapman D 2015 Copper in electrical contacts, Copper Development Association Publication No 223, Hemel Hempstead, UK

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, 560054, India

    Vishwanath Koti

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad, 826004, India

    Mahesh

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Government Sri Krishnarajendra Silver Jubilee Technological Institute, Bengaluru, 560001, India

    K V Shivananda Murthy

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, Mangalore, 575025, India

    Praveennath G Koppad

  5. Department of Mechanical Engineering, PES University, Bengaluru, 560085, India

    D Sethuram

Authors
  1. Vishwanath Koti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mahesh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. K V Shivananda Murthy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Praveennath G Koppad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. D Sethuram
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Praveennath G Koppad.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Koti, V., Mahesh, Murthy, K.V.S. et al. Hardness and electrical conductivity of uncoated and silver coated carbon nanotubes reinforced copper nanocomposites. Sādhanā 47, 179 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12046-022-01949-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12046-022-01949-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation