Thermal properties of diamond/Cu composites enhanced by TiC plating with molten salts containing fluoride and electroless-plated Cu on diamond particles

To improve the thermal properties of diamond/Cu composites for thermal management applications, we designed dual-coated diamond particles for preparing composites. A thin TiC coating is formed on diamonds using molten salt with NaCl-KCl-NaF, then electroless plating of Cu is applied. The effects of salt bath temperature on the formation of TiC coating and the percentage of modified diamonds on the thermal performance of the composites were investigated. At temperature as low as 700 °C, Ti and diamond particles forms a TiC coating with a thickness of 1 μm in molten salt containing fluoride. In response to an increase in temperature, the thickness of the formed TiC coating increases and is prone to cracking and flaking. Cu coating well coats the TiC/diamond by electroless plating. The hot-pressing diamond/Cu composite with 60 vol% modified diamonds exhibits the best thermal conductivity of 495.5 W·m −1 ·K −1 , slightly below the values predicted by the model H-J and DEM, and lower thermal expansion coefficient of 5.86 × 10 −6 K −1 , corresponding to the Kerner model. • Using a ternary molten salt containing F, coat diamond particles with TiC. • The temperature as low as 700 °C formed continuous thin TiC coatings. • Cu-TiC coating is readily achieved by electroless plating and molten salt treatment. • Cu/diamond Composites with dual-coating diamond exhibit favorable thermal properties.