Constructing Non-Commensurate Cu-C Interfaces With High Thermal Conductance via Symmetric Tilt Grain Boundaries

HM Li and XL Zhang and YH Feng and XH Zhang and L Qiu, CARBON ENERGY, 7 (2025).

DOI: 10.1002/cey2.70084

Copper-carbon (Cu-C) composites have achieved great success in various fields owing to the greatly improved electrical properties compared to pure Cu, for example, a two-order-of-magnitude increase in current- carrying capacity (ampacity). However, the frequent fuse failure caused by the poor thermal transport at the Cu-C heterointerface is still the main factor affecting the ampacity. In this study, we unconventionally leverage atomic distortion at Cu grain boundaries to alter the local atomic environments, thereby placing a premium on noticeable enhancement of phonon coupling at the Cu-C heterointerface. Without introducing any additional materials, interfacial thermal transport can be regulated solely through rational microstructural design. This new strategy effectively improves the interfacial thermal conductance by three-fold, reaching the state-of-the-art level in van der Waals (vdW) interface regulation. It can be an innovative strategy for interfacial thermal management by turning the detrimental grain boundaries into a beneficial thermal transport accelerator.

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