A sandwich structure graphite block with excellent thermal and mechanical properties reinforced by in-situ grown carbon nanotubes

A graphite block derived from natural graphite flakes (NGF) has high thermal conductivity (TC) but poor mechanical properties. An effort to overcome this shortcoming was made by introducing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) onto the NGF surface by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). A block with a CNT–NGF–CNT sandwich structure was then prepared by hot-pressing at 2973 K. The new structure improved bend strength (increasing 52.2%) of the block, while maintaining the TC in the direction perpendicular to hot-pressing.