Thermal Transport Properties of Energetic Composites with Graphene and Carbon Nanotube Additives: An Experimental Study

摘要

Reactive materials such as aluminum and polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) are used for energy generationapplications and specifically in ordnance technologies. With the advent of nanotechnology various nano-scale additives havebecome incorporated into reactive material formulations with the hope of enhanced performance. An important component tothe study of energy generation is an examination of energy transport through a reactant matrix. This study examines anexperimental approach to quantifying thermal properties of an Al/Teflon nanocomposite reactant matrix that has beenimpregnated with carbon additives. Various structures of carbon are investigated and include amorphous nanoscale carbonspheres (nano C), graphene flakes and unaligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The additives were selected basedon their completely different structures with the hypothesis that the structure of the additive will influence the thermaltransport properties of the matrix. Results show graphene has the greatest influence on the thermophysical properties. Forexample, thermal conductivity of the composites containing graphene increased by 98%. Graphene similarly enhanced thethermal diffusivity and specific heat of the Al/Teflon matrix. Conversely, nano C and CNTs decreased the thermalconductivity and thermal diffusivity of the samples significantly.