Engineering Electrical and Thermal Attributes of Two-Dimensional Graphene Reinforced Copper/Aluminium Metal Matrix Composites for Smart Electronics


 Rising demand for reliable thermally and electrically conductive and stable, light weight, and mechanically enduring materials in architecting smart electronics has accelerated the research in engineering metal-matrix composites (MMCs). Among these, copper (Cu) and aluminium (Al) based MMCs are popular owing to high electrical conductivity, but large heat dissipation in compact electronic gadgets is still challenging. The reinforcement of Cu/Al with graphene caters to the problem of heat dissipation, strengthens mechanical endurance, and optimizes electronic and thermal conductivities as per device architecture and application. Here we systematically review the state-of-the-art Cu/Al MMCs using graphene reinforcement with enhanced electrical, thermal, and mechanical attributes for smart electronics manufacturing and discuss the fundamentals for optimising the electrical and thermal charge transport in Cu/Al MMCs through graphene reinforcement. In addition, we discuss challenges, alternate solutions, and advanced prospects of graphene reinforced Cu/Al MMCs for smart electronics manufacturing.