Effect of SiC nanoparticles on dispersion of carbon nanotubes and grain refinement in Cu/MWCNTs composites

Small amount of SiC nanoparticles ( 2 vol.%) was added to the mixture of Cu/CNT as an active mixing agent for dispersing of the CNTs in Cu powder, and also as an agent to increase the matrix grains stabilityduring consolidation. The powders were mechanically ball milled for 3h in an optimized condition todisperse reinforcements in copper powder and to retain CNTs structure during processing. The composites with different volume fraction of CNTs were consolidated by hot pressing (HP) method.Microstructures of the powders and bulk materials were studied using scanning electron microscope(SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and High resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM). The results showed relatively intact and uniform distribution of CNTs and fine matrix grain size due to addition of SiC nanoparticles. Raman characterization confirmed the retention ofCNTs structure in the composites during mechanical milling and HP. It can be concluded that dualreinforcement dispersion method can be used to strengthen the composite by improvement of the CNTs dispersion and grain refinement

Keywords:

Copper , Metal matrix composite , SiC , Carbon nanotubes , Grain refinement