Effect of Preparation and Properties of Modified Carbon Fibers Reinforced Cu-NbC Composites

Cu-based composites are widely used in contact materials, electronic packaging materials, heat exchange materials and other fields because of their high electrical and thermal conductivity and easy processing characteristic. In recent years, particle and fiber hybrid reinforced Cu-based composites have became an important research direction in this field due to their synergic strengthening effect on enhancing the performance of Cu-based composites. In this study, carbon fiber reinforced Cu-NbC composites with different coating surface modification were prepared by a electroless plating and powder metallurgy method, and in order to explore the effects of Cu and Ni coated carbon fibers with different volume fractions on the microstructure, relative density, hardness and electrical conductivity of Cu-NbC composites. The results showed that the uniform coating formed on surface of the modified carbon fiber could effectively improve the compatibility between carbon fiber and Cu matrix and thus enable the carbon fibers evenly distributed in the composites. The relative densities and electrical conductivities of two modified carbon fiber reinforced Cu-NbC composites might decrease with the increase in fiber volume fractions. The hardness of Cu-coated carbon fiber reinforced Cu-NbC composites increased with the increase in fiber volume fraction while the hardness of Ni-coated carbon fiber reinforced Cu-NbC composites might decrease. Except for the hardness, the Cu- coated carbon fiber reinforced Cu-NbC composites outperformed the Ni-coated carbon fiber reinforced Cu-NbC composites in all other properties, showing better comprehensive performance advantages.