Development of high thermal conductivity Al–Si/C/VGCF composites with C/VGCF foam

In order to develop high thermal conductivity materials, Al-Si/CNGCF composites were fabricated by infiltrating Al-Si alloy (JIS-AC3A) into carbon and vapor grown carbon fiber composite (C/VGCF) foam. There was not any void and Al4C3 compound layer on an interface between Al-Si alloy and the foam. The composites achieved higher thermal conductivity (129.5 W/mK) and lower coefficient of thermal expansion (16.4-19.7 ppm/K) than Al-Si alloy (121.0 W/mK-22.4 ppm/K), although the flexural strength was decreased to about 1/3 times that of Al-Si alloy.