Effects of zirconium addition on microstructures and thermal conductivities of carbon/copper composites

Abstract

Carbon (C)/copper (Cu)-based materials with high thermal conductivity and good stability at high temperatures were developed by adding a small amount of zirconium, which has a low enthalpy of alloy formation with C and Cu. The felt-type C/C composites, which were impregnated by Cu and zirconium, provided 1.4 times higher thermal conductivity at 1300 K than that of the original carbon materials. Microstructural analysis showed that the increase of thermal conductivity is due to the formation of zirconium compounds at the C/Cu interface. These carbon-based materials could be one of the candidate materials for the plasma-facing components of the fusion devices.

KEYWORDS:

• Carbon
• composite
• microstructure
• thermal conductivity

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank T. Sogabe, T. Hiraoka, K. Kuroda and T. Kondo, Toyo Tanso Co. Ltd. for preparing C/C composite materials. The authors also would like to thank A. Kurumada and M. Nakata for the measurements of thermal conductivity and their useful discussion.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).