Fabrication and properties of graphite flakes/metal composites for thermal management applications

Carbon-based/metal composites are materials showing excellent thermal performance. Graphite flakes are attractive carbon-based reinforcements in terms of thermal properties, price and machinability. However, their packed preforms pose insurmountable difficulties to metal infiltration. Here a novel fabrication process is discussed which consists of using mixtures of graphite flakes and other material with different morphology. Preforms of such mixtures can be easily infiltrated with a variety of metals and alloys. The thermal properties of the resulting composites are also reported.