Effect of CNT addition on thermal properties of VGCF/aluminum composites

Abstract

In this paper, vapor-grown carbon fiver (VGCF), which is a kind of carbon nanotubes (CNT), is used for the composite materials with aluminum matrix. It is found out that the thermal conductivity of the composites is about 2.5 times higher than that of the pure aluminum of the matrix if the direction of VGCF is aligned. To improve the thermal conductivity of the composites, small amount of CNT were added to the VGCF filler. The effect of the addition of CNT on the thermal conductivity was examined by both the finite element analysis (FEM) and the measurements of the thermal conductivity. Simulations of finite element analysis (FEM) shows that the possibility to improve the thermal conductivity with small amount addition of CNT because of the cross-link (VGCF-CNT-VGCF). Therefore, small amount of CNT are added to the VGCF/aluminum composites. The thermal conductivity of the composites added CNT have about 20% higher thermal conductivity than that of the composites without CNT. The cross-links of VGCF due to the CNT addition is also confirmed by FE-SEM observation.