Heat Dissipation Characteristics of Cu-MWNT Nanocomposites Coated by Plasma Spray Process on Al Substrates

This research aims to enhance the thermal management in electronic devices using a plasma spray process to deposit copper-multiwalled carbon nanotube (Cu-MWNT) nanocomposite films on aluminum (AI) substrates. Cu-MWNT nanocomposites with various MWNT contents were prepared via acid treatment and Cu decoration. They were coated on Al substrates using plasma spraying with various powers (30–45 kW). The thermal conductivity and adhesion strength of the coated films on the substrates were measured by the Hot-Disk and the surface and interfacial cutting analysis system (SAICAS) method, respectively. The results show that Cu-2 wt.% MWNT nanocomposite, applied with a plasma power of 40 kW, significantly increased the thermal conductivity of up to 183 W/m.K with the highest adhesion strength of up to 156.6 N/m. This study suggests that plasma spraying of Cu-MWNT nanocomposites offers one of the promising approaches for efficient heat dissipation in electronic packaging devices.