Nanocarbon‐Infused Metals: A New Class of Covetic Materials for Energy Applications

This chapter examines the infusion of covetic nano-materials with nano-particles of carbon by a unique electrical process. A coordinated research effort is needed to understand the structural characteristics of covetic materials and to develop a comprehensive understanding about the structure-property relationship. A wide variety of possibilities exist for single and multiple additions of elements to attain properties suitable for desired applications. In an experiment, copper of 99.8% nominal purity was converted to covetics by adding 3 wt% carbon. The increased Lorenz number is an indication of increased phonon-assisted energy transfer in the material. The impurity phase in CuPa and CuCv is likely accumulated near the grain boundaries, where electrons encounter strong scattering. The XRD results showed that a traceable amount of impurities exist in the CuPa and CuCv3 samples, and the CuPa contains a higher concentration of Cu2O phase.