Almonti Daniele, Salvi Daniel, Ucciardello Nadia, Vesco Silvia
Department of Enterprise Engineering "Mario Lucertini", University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy.
Materials (Basel). 2024 Dec 9;17(23):6017. doi: 10.3390/ma17236017.
Copper, though highly conductive, requires improved wear resistance and thermal dissipation in applications that involve continuous movement and current-induced vibrations, such as power breakers. Conventional solutions, such as copper-tungsten alloys or lubricant use, face limitations in durability, friction, or environmental impact. This study explores the development of copper-graphene (Cu-GNPs) composite coatings using pulsed electrodeposition to enhance the tribological, thermal, and mechanical properties of circuit breaker components by adopting an industrially scalable technique. The influence of deposition bath temperature, duty cycle, and frequency on coating morphology, hardness, wear resistance, and heat dissipation was systematically evaluated using a 2 full factorial design and an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results revealed that optimized pulsed electrodeposition significantly improved coating performance: hardness increased by 76%, wear volume decreased by more than 99%, and friction coefficient stabilized at 0.2, reflecting effective graphene integration. The addition of graphene further improved thermal diffusivity by 19.5%, supporting superior heat dissipation. These findings suggest that pulsed copper-graphene composite coatings offer a promising alternative to traditional copper alloys, enhancing the lifespan and reliability of electronic components through improved wear resistance, lower friction, and superior heat transfer.
铜虽然具有高导电性，但在涉及连续运动和电流引起振动的应用中，如断路器，需要提高耐磨性和散热性。传统的解决方案，如铜钨合金或使用润滑剂，在耐久性、摩擦或环境影响方面存在局限性。本研究探索了采用脉冲电沉积法制备铜-石墨烯（Cu-GNPs）复合涂层，通过一种工业规模可扩展技术来提高断路器部件的摩擦学、热学和力学性能。使用二水平全因子设计和方差分析（ANOVA）系统地评估了镀液温度、占空比和频率对涂层形态、硬度、耐磨性和散热的影响。结果表明，优化的脉冲电沉积显著提高了涂层性能：硬度提高了76%，磨损体积减少了99%以上，摩擦系数稳定在0.2，这反映了石墨烯的有效整合。石墨烯的添加进一步将热扩散率提高了19.5%，有助于实现卓越的散热。这些发现表明，脉冲铜-石墨烯复合涂层为传统铜合金提供了一种有前景的替代方案，通过提高耐磨性、降低摩擦和卓越的热传递来延长电子元件的寿命和提高其可靠性。
