Vapor grown carbon fiber reinforced aluminum composites with very high thermal conductivity

The first use of continuous vapor grown carbon fiber (VGCF) as reinforcement in aluminum metal matrix composite (Al MMC) is reported. Al MMC represents a new material for thermal management in high-power, high-density electronic devices. Due to the ultrahigh thermal conductivity of VGCF, 1950 W/m-K at room temperature, VGCF-reinforced Al MMC exhibits excellent thermal conductivity that cannot be achieved by using any other carbon fiber as reinforcement. An unprecedented high thermal conductivity of 642 W/m-K for Al MMC was obtained by using 36.5% of VGCF.