CAREER: Manufacturing of Continuous Network Graphene-Copper Composites for Ultrahigh Electrical Conductivity

职业：制造具有超高导电性的连续网络石墨烯-铜复合材料

• 批准号: 2338609
• 负责人: Wonmo Kang
• 金额: $ 66.02万
• 依托单位: Arizona State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-02-01 至 2029-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2338609&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Manufacturing; Continuous; Network; Graphene

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant supports research to establish the basis of a new manufacturing technique for the fabrication of ultrahigh electrical conductivity materials. The research exploits the excellent electrical conductivity of graphene, an emerging two-dimensional (2D) carbon nanomaterial, within a pure copper matrix. Fundamental multiscale and multi-physics studies will be performed in order to understand the fabrication and properties of graphene-copper composites critical to the achievement of scientific and technological advancements in high conductivity materials. The availability of ultrahigh conductivity materials meets the ever-increasing demand for high performance electrical conductors in electric vehicles, portable devices, and power grids, which impacts various industries and, hence, the U.S. economy. New experimental methods will be developed for controlling the continuity of graphene networks within a copper matrix to achieve electrical conductivities significantly higher than that of pure copper. The manufacturing approach is generalizable to other carbon-metal composites consisting of low dimensional constituents within metal matrices for improved electrical and structural applications. This project provides interdisciplinary research, education, and training opportunities for high school students to postdoctoral researchers, ensuring participation from women and under-represented minority groups. Educational and research integration activities include developing modular demonstrations and laboratory tours for interactive teaching and learning experiences and offering new interdisciplinary courses and research programs. Carbon nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotube and graphene, have excellent electrical properties far exceeding those of pure metal conductors such as copper. To exploit these attractive properties, carbon nanomaterials are often dispersed in a copper matrix to fabricate carbon-copper composite conductors. However, these conductors suffer from low electrical performance due to the discontinuous interfaces between the dispersed nanocarbon materials and the copper matrix. This research project seeks to address these technical challenges by developing an innovative manufacturing technique involving chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and growth of continuous graphene films in a pre-compacted copper foam followed by a ‘gentle’ compression step. The ‘gentle’ compression ensures that the final densification of the graphene-coated copper foam occurs without damaging the continuous graphene films. This research aims to resolve fundamental questions about (1) the underlying mechanisms for the enhanced electrical properties of graphene-copper composites; (2) the role of the continuity of graphene networks in the composite on their overall material properties; and (3) size-dependent material behavior of the composite besides the direct effect of different graphene-to-copper volume ratios. Overcoming these technical challenges is essential for designing and manufacturing graphene-copper composite conductors with significantly enhanced electrical properties.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这项教师早期职业发展（职业）赠款支持研究，以建立一种用于制造超高电导率材料的新制造技术的基础。该研究探索了纯铜基质中新兴的二维（2D）碳纳米材料的石墨烯的出色电导率。将进行基本的多尺度和多物理研究研究，以了解对于高电导率材料中科学和技术进步至关重要的石墨烯 - 铜构成的制造和特性。超高电导率材料的可用性满足了对电动汽车，便携式设备和电网中高性能电导器的不断增长的需求，这会影响各种行业，因此，美国经济。将开发新的实验方法来控制铜基质中石墨烯网络的连续性，以实现高于纯铜的电导率。制造方法可以推广到其他碳 - 金属组成，该碳构成由金属矩阵中的低维构成组成，以改善电气和结构应用。该项目为高中生提供跨学科的研究，教育和培训机会，以确保女性和代表性不足的少数群体的参与。教育和研究整合活动包括开发模块化演示和实验室参观，以进行互动教学经验，并提供新的跨学科课程和研究计划。碳纳米材料（例如碳纳米管和石墨烯）具有出色的电气性能，远远超过了纯金属导体（例如铜）。为了探索这些有吸引力的特性，碳纳米材料通常分散在铜基质中，以制造碳 - 波波复合材料导体。但是，由于分散的纳米碳材料和铜基质之间的不连续界面，这些导体的电性能较低。该研究项目旨在通过开发涉及化学蒸气沉积（CVD）的创新制造技术来应对这些技术挑战，并在预先压缩的铜泡沫中加入连续石墨烯膜的增长，然后采取“温和”的压缩步骤。 “柔和”的压缩确保了涂石墨烯涂层的铜泡沫的最终降级不会损坏连续的石墨烯膜。这项研究旨在解决有关（1）增强石墨烯 - 铜组合物增强电特性的基本机制的基本问题； （2）石墨烯网络在复合材料整体材料特性中的连续性的作用； （3）复合材料的尺寸依赖性材料行为，除了不同的石墨烯与波能体积比的直接效应。克服这些技术挑战对于设计和制造石墨烯复合导体具有显着增强的电气性能至关重要。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的知识分子和更广泛的影响评估标准来评估，被认为是珍贵的支持。