Synthesis and processing of improved graphite-molybdenum-titanium composites by colloidal route and spark plasma sintering

Graphite-molybdenum-titanium composites might attract significant interest as heat sinks for different sector applications due to their excellent thermal, electrical and mechanical properties. This type of composites was already studied but following the powder metallurgy and spark plasma sintering (SPS) route. The aim of the present investigation is to study a new route of fabrication of these composites to improve their properties: colloidal synthesis and SPS process. The results obtained for graphite-10 vol% Mo-1 vol% Ti composites prepared by both routes are compared. It has been proved that the properties of the composites are significantly improved by the colloidal route compared with the powder metallurgy route, i. e. electrical conductivity by a factor of 3, thermal properties by a factor of 8 and bending strength by a factor of 4.