Indium thermal interface material microstructure as a function of thermal history and bonding metallization

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - Indium has gained attention as a thermal interface material (TIM), in high-power electronics, due to its high thermal conductivity and...     

Adhesive bonding for high performance materials

Adhesion as a joining technology assumes greater significance as attempts are made to join newer materials in increasingly exotic combinations and where conventional joining techniques are either less suitable or quite unsatisfactory. This paper describes work directed at the use of adhesives in the fabrication or repair of structures involving modern structural materials.This subject is discussed by reference to research involving fibre reinforced polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and particulate silicon carbide reinforced aluminium alloy as representatives of organic and metal matrix composites respectively.Adhesion is essentially a superficial phenomenon depending as it does upon interactions between the adhesive in its liquid state and the surface of the substrate. The surface preparation of the subject to be bonded is therefore of the greatest importance and this aspect is addressed at length. The success of an adhesive bonding operation is reflected in the strength of the joint generated and in its ability to retain useful joint strength for long periods in the operational environment. These aspects are also considered and in particular the effect of water on the integrity of joints is discussed.Both plasma and corona discharge treatments were found to be effective in the adhesive bonding of the organic matrix material (PEEK) whilst anodising and the use of coupling agents were both found to be useful in the bonding of the metal matrix composite (MMC).The versatility of the adhesion process as a joining technology is highlighted by reference to how the individual problems presented by these very different materials are dealt with.     

A general approach for high yield fabrication of CMOS-compatible all-semiconducting carbon nanotube field effect transistors

We report strategies to achieve both high assembly yield of carbon nanotubes at selected positions of the circuit via dielectrophoresis (DEP) and field effect transistor (FET) yield using an aqueous solution of semiconducting-enriched single-walled carbon nanotubes (s-SWNTs). When the DEP parameters were optimized for the assembly of individual s-SWNTs, 97% of the devices showed FET behavior with a maximum mobility of 210 cm2 V(-1) s(-1), on-off current ratio ～10(6) and on-conductance up to 3 μS, but with an assembly yield of only 33%. As the DEP parameters were optimized so that one to five s-SWNTs are connected per electrode pair, the assembly yield was almost 90%, with ～90% of these assembled devices demonstrating FET behavior. Further optimization gave an assembly yield of 100% with up to 10 SWNTs per site, but with a reduced FET yield of 59%. Improved FET performance including higher current on-off ratio and high switching speed were obtained by integrating a local Al2O3 gate to the device. Our 90% FET with 90% assembly yield is the highest reported so far for carbon nanotube devices. Our study provides a pathway which could become a general approach for the high yield fabrication of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible carbon nanotube FETs.     

Carbon nanotube thermal interface material for high-brightness light-emitting-diode cooling

Aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays were fabricated from a multilayer catalyst configuration by microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The effects of the thickness and annealing of the aluminum layer on the CNT synthesis and thermal performance were investigated. An experimental study of thermal resistance across the CNT array interface using the modified ASTM D5470 standard was conducted. It was demonstrated that the CNT-thermal interface material (CNT-TIM) reduced the thermal interfacial resistance significantly compared with the state-of-art commercial TIM. The optimized thermal resistance of the CNT arrays is as low as 7?mm(2)?K?W(-1). The light performance of high-brightness light-emitting diode (HB-LED) packages using the aligned CNT-TIM was tested. The results indicated that the light output power was greatly improved with the use of the CNT-TIM. The usage of the CNT-TIM can be also extended to other microelectronics thermal management applications.     

A nonlinear effective thermal conductivity model for carbon nanotube and nanofiber suspensions

It has been experimentally demonstrated that suspensions of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and nanofibers (CNFs) significantly increase the thermal conductivity of nanofluids; however, a physically sound theory of the underlying phenomenon is still missing. In this study, the nonlinear nature of the effective thermal conductivity enhancement with the particle concentration of CNT and CNF nanofluids is explained physically using the excluded volume concept. Specifically, the number of contacting CNTs and CNFs could be calculated by using the excluded volume concept, where the distance for heat to travel in a cylinder between the contacting cylinders in the thermal network of percolating CNTs and CNFs increased with the excluded volume. In contrast to the effective thermal conductivity model of Sastry et al (2008 Nanotechnology 19 055704) the present revised model could reproduce the nonlinear increase of the thermal conductivity with particle concentration, as well as the dependence on the diameter and aspect ratio of the CNTs and CNFs. It was found that the alignment of CNTs and CNFs due to the long range repulsion force decreases the excluded volume, leading to both the convex and concave nonlinear as well as linear increase of the thermal conductivity with particle concentration. The difference between various carrier fluids of the suspensions could be explained as the result of the change in the excluded volume in different base fluids.     

基于蛋白质分散的碳纳米管/环氧树脂粘结剂的粘结性能

碳纳米管/环氧树脂因其优良的力学与粘结性能可广泛应用于航空航天等高端领域结构件的胶结连接。然而如何有效降低碳纳米管的团聚性,保证制备工艺的低成本与绿色环保是该纳米粘结剂能够实际应用的关键。为此,本文提出一种基于蛋白质分散的碳纳米管增强环氧树脂粘接剂并对其粘结性能进行了研究。结果表明：经过酸或碱性环境变性处理的大豆分离蛋白能够有效降低碳纳米管的团聚性并显著提高环氧树脂的粘接性能,当碳纳米管质量分数为0.1wt%时,经酸、碱性处理的大豆分离蛋白-碳纳米管/环氧树脂粘结剂的粘结性能增幅分别为26.6%、26.7%;而当碳纳米管质量分数增加到0.3wt%时,两种处理方法的大豆分离蛋白-碳纳米管/环氧树脂粘结剂的粘结性能增幅分别为10.2%和18.3%,碱处理结果比酸处理提升79%。     

高性能炭电极材料的制备和电化学性能研究

以胡桃壳为前躯体,采用ZnCl2化学活化法制备炭电极材料,研究了活化剂与果壳的不同混合质量比例对炭材料性质的影响,用氮气吸附和傅立叶红外表征活性炭材料的比表面积、孔结构和表面性质,结果表明:活性炭材料表面存在着含氧官能团,为一种高微孔无定形炭材料;以制备的活性炭为电极材料,KOH为电解液构成超级电容器,采用循环伏安、恒流充放电等电化学方法研究了其电化学性能,结果表明:制备的活性炭电极材料表现出理想的电化学电容行为,比电容高达271.0F/g,漏电流和等效串联电阻分别只有0.25mA和0.39Ω,稳定性很高,循环充放电5000次后,电容量仍保持88%以上.     

Fabrication of carbon nanotube thermal interface material on aluminum alloy substrates with low pressure CVD

High quality vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) arrays have been synthesized on bulk Al alloy (Al6063) substrates with an electron-beam (E-beam) evaporated Fe catalyst using low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD). The pretreatment process of the catalyst was shown to play a critical role. This was studied comprehensively and optimized to repeatedly grow high quality VACNT arrays within a wide range of thicknesses of catalyst layer (2-11 nm) and acetylene (C(2)H(2)) flow rates (100-300 sccm). The thermal performance of the resulting VACNT arrays was evaluated. The minimum interfacial thermal resistance of the Si/VACNT/Al interfaces achieved so far is only 4 mm(2) K W(-1), and the average value is 14.6 mm(2) K W(-1).     

高导热炭材料的研究进展

炭材料具有高热导率、低密度、优异的机械性能,是近年来最具发展前景的一类散热材料.本文结合炭材料结构和传导机理主要介绍目前国内外在提高炭材料热导率方面的研究工作及发展趋势.     

Three-dimensional carbon nanotube based polymer composites for thermal management

In this study, the porous multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) foams possessing three-dimensional (3D) scaffold structures have been introduced into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) for enhancing the overall thermal conductivity (TC). This unique interconnected structure of freeze-dried MWCNT foams can provide thermally conductive pathways leading to higher TC. The TC of 3D MWCNT and PDMS composites can reach 0.82 W/m K, which is about 455% that of pure PDMS, and 300% higher than that of composites prepared from traditional blending process. The obtained polymer composites not only exhibit superior mechanical properties but also dimensional stability. To evaluate the performance of thermal management, the LED modulus incorporated with the 3D MWCNT/PDMS composite as heat sink is also fabricated. The composites display much faster and higher temperature rise than the pristine PDMS matrix, suggestive of its better thermal dissipation. These results imply that the as-developed 3D-MWCNT/PDMS composite can be a good candidate in thermal interface for thermal management of electronic devices.     

A DNA-based approach to the carbon nanotube sorting problem

Carbon nanotube sorting, i.e., the separation of a mixture of tubes into different electronic types and further into species with a specific chirality, is a fascinating problem of both scientific and technological importance. It is one of those problems that are easy to describe but difficult to solve. Single-stranded DNA forms stable complexes with carbon nanotubes and disperses them effectively in water. A particular DNA sequence of alternating guanine (G) and thymine (T) nucleotides ((GT) _n , with n = 10 to 45) self-assembles into an ordered supramolecular structure around an individual nanotube, in such a way that the electrostatic properties of the DNA-carbon nanotube hybrid depend on tube structure, enabling nanotube separation by anion-exchange chromatography. This review provides a summary of the separation of metallic and semiconducting tubes, and purification of single (n, m) tubes using the DNA-wrapping approach. We will present our current understanding of the DNA-carbon nanotube hybrid structure and separation mechanisms, and predict future developments of the DNA-based approach. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com     

碳包钴纳米颗粒/聚二甲基硅氧烷复合热界面材料的制备和性能

为了制备具有良好的热导率、热稳定性、导电性和柔顺性的纳米颗粒填充硅树脂复合材料,首先以乙基封端聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)为基体材料,以碳包钴纳米颗粒(C@Co)为填料,采用研磨共混法制备了C@Co/PDMS复合热界面材料。然后,运用TEM、XRD、Raman和SEM分别对C@Co的微观结构、物相、石墨化程度和分散性进行了研究。最后,研究了C@Co含量对复合热界面材料的热导率、热稳定性、导电性和柔顺性的影响。结果表明:该复合热界面材料的热导率随着C@Co含量的增加而增大,当C@Co的含量为24wt%时,复合材料的热导率达到最大值1.64 W/(m·K),比纯PDMS的提高了10.7倍;TG分析表明,添加24wt%的C@Co后,复合材料的起始分解温度和最终分解温度比纯PDMS的分别提高了约70℃和80℃,说明C@Co能提高复合材料的热稳定性;随着C@Co含量的增加,复合热界面材料的电导率非线性增大,拟合试差计算的逾渗阀值为10wt%,即C@Co含量小于10wt%时复合材料的绝缘性良好,而填充24wt%的C@Co时复合材料的电导率为9.38×10-3 S·m-1;复合材料的硬度适中,处于17.6~26.8HA范围内,表明该复合材料的柔顺性较好。因此,24wt%C@Co/PDMS复合材料不仅能满足热界面材料电性能的基本要求,且具有良好的热导率、热稳定性和柔顺性。     

Deformations and thermal stability of carbon nanotube ropes

Structural and thermal characteristics of crystalline ropes of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are investigated. Novel crystalline ropes of polygonized SWCNTs produced by laser irradiation exhibit rounded-hexagonal cross sections in contrast to earlier observations of circular tubes. Extensive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations lead to several metastable structures of the lattice characterized by different tube cross sections, hexagonal, rounded-hexagonal and circular, and increasing cell volume. The competition between different tube shapes is analyzed and compared to experiments. On the other hand, bundles of SWCNTs coalesce, forming multiwall carbon nanotubes under thermal treatment at high temperatures. Extensive MD simulations confirm the single-wall-to-multiwall transformation and suggest the physical patching-and-tearing mechanism underlying the concerted coalescence of the tubes.     

Multi-walled carbon nanotube/silver nanoparticles used for thermal transportation

A green method was applied to prepare composites of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) decorated with silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs). MWNTs were functionalized using ball milling technology in the presence of ammonium bicarbonate, and the traditional method of silver mirror was used to decorate MWNTs to obtain Ag/MWNT composite. The obtained Ag/MWNT composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy, and Brunauer–Emmet–Teller (BET) surface area analysis. SEM characterization showed that Ag-NPs distributed uniformly on the walls of MWNTs. The content and size of Ag-NPs could be controlled by adjusting the redox time. XRD patterns demonstrated that the Ag-NPs are composed of pure Ag and crystallized well. BET analysis indicated that the specific surface areas of Ag/MWNT decrease with increasing the content of Ag-NPs, and this result is similar to that of the literature. The measurement results of the thermal property showed that the thermal conductivity of the nanofluid containing Ag/MWNT composites was higher than that of nanofluid containing pristine or functionalized MWNTs.     

Highly concentrated carbon nanotube admixture for nano-fiber reinforced cementitious materials

The use of effectively dispersed multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/aqueous/surfactant suspensions in cement based materials have been shown to substantially improve their mechanical properties. The produced MWCNT suspensions have a high aqueous content, which corresponds to the mixing water. In the present work, a method for preparing highly concentrated MWCNT suspensions is presented, thus reducing the volume of the resulting admixture that is required in cement based materials. A centrifugal process, that uses two different ultracentrifuge rotors, was employed to reduce the quantity of water in the suspensions. Optical absorbance spectroscopy shows that the ultracentrifugation process increases the concentration of the MWCNT suspensions by a factor of 5. Using the highly concentrated MWCNT suspensions following dilution results in nanocomposites with mechanical properties that are comparable to the performance of samples prepared using the non-concentrated suspensions. These results verify that the ultracentrifugation concentration method successfully preserves the solubility of the MWCNT suspensions without affecting the reinforcing properties of the admixture. In this manner, the ultracentrifugation concentration method may constitute an effective preparation step for large-scale implementation of MWCNT admixtures.     

Enhancement of thermal and mechanical properties of flexible graphene oxide/carbon nanotube hybrid films though direct covalent bonding

The thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of graphene oxide/multiwalled carbon nanotube (GO/MWCNT) hybrid films with and without covalent bonding were examined. Chlorinated GO and amino-functionalized MWCNT were bonded covalently to fabricate chemically bonded GO/MWCNT hybrid films. Mixtures of surface-modified GO and MWCNT were filtered and then subjected to hot-pressing to fabricate stacked films. Examination of these chemically bonded hybrid films revealed higher thermal conductivity than in physically bonded hybrid films, because of the synergetic interaction of functional groups in GO and MWCNT in the films. However, the addition of excess MWCNT to the films led to an increased phonon scattering density and a decreased thermal conductivity. The hybrid films fabricated by the optimized process endured about 20000 bending cycles without rupturing or losing their thermal conductivity. The mechanical properties showed enhanced performance after increased MWCNT loading at elevated temperature due to the reinforcement effect of the MWCNT between GO layers.     

Paraffin/carbon aerogel phase change materials with high enthalpy and thermal conductivity

Two kinds of carbon aerogels, graphene aerogels (GA) and carbon nanotubes-graphene aerogels (CGA), were prepared by modified hydrothermal method. The form-stable phase change materials (PCMs) were fabricated by adsorbing paraffin into carbon aerogels. Morphology, structure, form stability and thermal property were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), in situ X-ray diffraction (in situ XRD) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The results showed that GA presented wrinkled surface textures with curling edges, and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were interspersed or attached to GA sheets. The phase transition temperature and the phase change enthalpy of the GA/paraffin PCM composite were 48.7 °C and 223.2 J/g, respectively. Thermal and mechanical properties of PCM composites achieved a qualitative leap with the adding of carbon aerogels. The PCM composites had a thermal conductivity of about 2.182 W/m K at the carbon aerogels loading fraction of 2 wt%. The form-stable PCM composites with high thermal conductivity and high enthalpy could be promising for thermal energy storage applications in construction field.     

Impregnation approach for poly(vinylidene fluoride)/tin oxide nanotube composites with high tribological performance

We report a composite material with the high tribological performance, which consists of onedimensional SnO_2 nanotubes(ST) and a high molecular weight poly(vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF) matrix in terms of nano-impregnation. Dissolution of PVDF in N,N-dimethylformamide(DMF) resulted in a facile penetration of PVDF into the inner hollow voids of ST, leading to the close contact. Interaction between PVDF and ST results in a beneficial effect on the chain arrangement of PVDF, providing an α-phase with better tribological property. Upon ST incorporation, the friction coefficient decreased by 85.0% to 0.408, and the specific wear rate decreased by 69.1% to 0.412, demonstrating the pivotal role of ST as a self-lubricating material due to a large interactive area and PVDF chain rearrangement.     

Preparation and characterization of sulfonated poly(1,3,4-oxadiazole)/multi-walled carbon nanotube composite films with high performance in electric heating and thermal stability

For manufacturing thermally stable electric heating composite films, a sulfonated poly(1,3,4-oxadiazole) (sPOD) was synthesized and it was composited with pristine MWCNT of 0.1–10.0 wt% by an ultrasonicated solution mixing and casting. SEM images revealed that the pristine MWCNTs were dispersed well in the composite matrix via π–π interaction between the MWCNTs and the aromatic rings of sPOD backbone. The electrical resistivity of the composite films decreased considerably from ∼10⁹ Ω cm to ∼10⁰ Ω cm with the increment of the MWCNT content by forming a percolation threshold at ∼0.026 wt%. The composite films with 5.0–10.0 wt% MWCNT contents, which had sufficiently low electrical resistivity of ∼10³–10⁰ Ω cm, exhibited excellent electric heating performance by attaining high maximum temperatures as well as electric energy efficiency. Since the dominant thermal decomposition of the composite films took place at ∼500 °C, sPOD/MWCNT composite films with low electrical resistivity could be used for high performance electric heating materials for advanced applications.     

Superlow thermal conductivity 3D carbon nanotube network for thermoelectric applications

Electrical and thermal transportation properties of a novel structured 3D CNT network have been systematically investigated. The 3D CNT net work maintains extremely low thermal conductivity of only 0.035 W/(m K) in standard atmosphere at room temperature, which is among the lowest compared with other reported CNT macrostructures. Its electrical transportation could be adjusted through a convenient gas-fuming doping process. By potassium (K) doping, the original p-type CNT network converted to n-type, whereas iodine (I(2)) doping enhanced its electrical conductivity. The self-sustainable homogeneous network structure of as-fabricated 3D CNT network made it a promising candidate as the template for polymer composition. By in situ nanoscaled composition of 3D CNT network with polyaniline (PANI), the thermoelectric performance of PANI was significantly improved, while the self-sustainable and flexible structure of the 3D CNT network has been retained. It is hoped that as-fabricated 3D CNT network will contribute to the development of low-cost organic thermoelectric area.