Abstract Copper-based composites could be widely used in automotive, electronic or electrical industry due to their very promising thermal properties. In the present paper, Cu-AlN metal matrix composites with ceramic volume fractions between 0.1 and 0.4 were fabricated by hot pressing method in vacuum. Dependence of the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and the thermal conductivity (TC) on the chemical composition of composites has been investigated. The measured values of the thermal expansion coefficient have been compared with the analytical models’ predictions. A numerical model based on FEAP 7.5 in 3D space has been used to evaluate the influence of the porosity on the thermal properties (thermal conductivity) of the composite. A fairly good correlation between the FEM results and the experimental measurements has been obtained.

This paper presents the results of studies concerning the production and characterization of Al-SiC/W and Cu-SiC/W composite materials with a 30% volume fraction of reinforcing phase particles as well as the influence of corrosion and thermal shocks on the properties of selected metal matrix composites. Spark plasma sintering method (SPS) was applied for the purpose of producing these materials. In order to avoid the decomposition of SiC surface, SiC powder was coated with a thin tungsten layer using plasma vapour deposition (PVD) method. The obtained results were analysed by the effect of the corrosion and thermal shocks on materials density, hardness, bending strength, tribological and thermal properties. Qualitative X-ray analysis and observation of microstructure of sample surfaces after corrosion tests and thermal shocks were also conducted. The use of PVD technique allows us to obtain an evenly distributed layer of titanium with a constant thickness of 1.5 µm. It was found that adverse environmental conditions and increased temperature result in a change in the material behaviour in wear tests.

One of the ways to decrease thermal conductivity is nano structurization. Cobalt triantimonide (CoSb3) samples with added indium or tellurium were prepared by the direct fusion technique from high purity elements. Ingots were pulverized and re-compacted to form electrodes. Then, the pulsed plasma in liquid (PPL) method was applied. All materials were consolidated using rapid spark plasma sintering (SPS). For the analysis, methods such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) with a laser flash apparatus (LFA) were used. For density measurement, the Archimedes’ method was used. Electrical conductivity was measured using a standard four-wire method. The Seebeck coefficient was calculated to form measured Seebeck voltage in the sample placed in a temperature gradient. The preparation method allowed for obtaining CoSb3 nanomaterial with significantly lower thermal conductivity (10 Wm^–1K^–1 for pure CoSb₃ and 3 Wm^–1K^–1 for the nanostructured sample in room temperature (RT)). The size of crystallites (from SEM observations) in the powders prepared was about 20 nm, joined into larger agglomerates. The Seebeck coefficient, α, was about –200 µVK^–1 in the case of both dopants, In and Te, in microsized material and about –400 µVK^–1 for the nanomaterial at RT. For pure CoSb3, α was about 150 µVK^–1 and it stood at –50 µVK^–1 for nanomaterial at RT. In bulk nanomaterial samples, due to a decrease in electrical conductivity and inversion of the Seebeck coefficient, there was no increase in ZT values and the ZT for the nanosized material was below 0.02 in the measured temperature range, while for microsized In-doped sample it reached maximum ZT = 0.7 in (600K).