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Epoxy/ copper-nickel metal foam composites with high thermal conductivity using an electroplating method

  • Composites & nanocomposites
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Abstract

Simply filling the metal foam as a thermally conductive filler into the polymer matrix can improve the thermal conductivity of the polymer matrix, but it still cannot greatly improve the thermal conductivity of the composites. In this paper, the epoxy resin/copper foam-nickel (EP/CF-Ni) composite thermal conductive material was prepared by a combination of electroplating and vacuum liquid impregnation. The deposition of nickel increases the heat dissipation area of the copper foam and at the same time widens the heat conduction path of the materials. By comparing EP/CF with different pores and EP/CF-Ni with different deposition times, it was found that the thermal conductivity of EP/CF-Ni composites could reach 5.215 W/(mK) at 7.3 wt% nickel deposition, which enhanced 2507% and 75% compared to pure epoxy and copper foam matrix composites, respectively. The deposition of nickel further improves the wear resistance of the composite. This experiment reveals the synergistic effect of thermal conductivity of metallic Ni and 3D copper foam, and provides some reference opinions for the field of thermal conductivity of metallic foam.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Project Funded by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2017M611757), the Special Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51573201and 51803119) and Shanghai High-level Local University Innovation Team (Maritime safety & technical support).

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Author notes

  1. Tao Jiang, Ying Wang and Shitao Zhang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Merchant Marine College and College of Ocean Science and Engineering, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai, 201306, China

    Tao Jiang, Ying Wang, Shitao Zhang, Shanshan Shi, Zhao Qian, Xinfeng Wu, Kai Sun, Yuantao Zhao & Wenge Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Protective Technologies, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology & Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, 315201, China

    Jinhong Yu

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  1. Tao Jiang
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Correspondence to Xinfeng Wu, Wenge Li or Jinhong Yu.

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Jiang, T., Wang, Y., Zhang, S. et al. Epoxy/ copper-nickel metal foam composites with high thermal conductivity using an electroplating method. J Mater Sci 57, 15374–15384 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-022-07588-9

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