Construction of a low-thermal-resistance carbides heterogeneous interface in Cu/carbon fiber/Mo composites for thermal management application

With the integration and miniaturization of electronic components, an increasing demand is emerging for isotropic excellent thermal properties of thermal management materials. In this paper, based on data-driven filtering of dual-interface modifying elements Cr and Zr, high thermal conductivity and low coefficient of thermal expansion Cu/carbon fiber/Mo composites are successfully reaped via turbulence-shock homogeneous casting. Cu/C interfacial bonding is enhanced by the Cu/(CrZrMo)C/Cr₃C₂/C heterogeneous interface with approximately 80-nm Cr₃C₂ layer and 250-nm (CrZrMo)C layer. Cu/Mo interfacial bonding is simultaneously improved by forming a multi-element diffusion layer with the enrichment of elements Cr and Zr. Interfacial modification provides favorable conditions for uniform three-dimensional interpenetrated carbon fiber networks and dispersed Mo particles within Cu matrix. Cu-Cr-Zr/30carbon fiber/10Mo composite possesses optimal performance: the average thermal conductivity reaches 454.1 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ and coefficient of thermal expansion is 12.2 × 10⁻⁶ K⁻¹, respectively. Modeling results indicate that the Cu/(CrZrMo)C/Cr₃C₂/C heterogeneous interface alleviates phonon scattering at the interface, thereby significantly mitigating the interfacial thermal resistance. Cu/carbon fiber/Mo composite designed in this study, exhibiting isotropic behavior, holds promise as a next-generation thermal management material for heat dissipation engineering.