Fabrication of nickel-multiwalled carbon nanotube composite films with excellent thermal conductivity by an electrodeposition technique

Nickel-multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) composite films were fabricated by an electrodeposition technique, and their microstructure and thermal conductivity were characterized. Nickel-MWCNT composite films with a homogeneous dispersion of MWCNTs throughout the nickel matrix free of any significant voids were electrodeposited from a Ni plating bath containing effective additives and MWCNTs under galvanostatic conditions. The thermal conductivity of the composite films was as high as 109 Wm(-1) K-1, which is about twice that of a nickel film without MWCNTs. (c) 2006 The Electrochemical Society.