Realization Of High Thermal Conductivity And Tunable Thermal Expansion In The Scf3@Cu Core-Shell Composites

Achieving high performances of high thermal conductivity and low thermal expansion remains a great challenge. In this study, we have designed and synthesized the ScF3@Cu core-shell composites through a general electroless plating method to coat Cu on the surface of negative thermal expansion particles of ScF3. A spatially continuous copper network structure is formed in the present core-shell structure composites to achieve high thermal conductivity and low thermal expansion simultaneously, which is different from the conventional mixed composites. Notably, a high thermal conductivity (136.3 W m(-1) K-1) has been achieved in the ScF3@Cu-40 core-shell composite with a low thermal expansion property (4.3x10(-6)K(-1)). The mechanism of thermal property and microstructure of the present core-shell composites are systematically studied based on different models. Our proposed approach in this study can be widely applicable to numerous advanced materials, which should simultaneously control thermal conductivity and thermal expansion properties.