Preparation of amino group functionalized diamond using photocatalyst and thermal conductivity of diamond/copper composite by electroplating

We focused on a micro diamond (MD) particle with the highest thermal conductivity among existing materials and aimed to make a MD/copper composite material by electroplating. However, copper is naturally non-wetting with MD due to its chemical incompatibility, leading to weak interfacial bonding and high thermal resistance. We improved the wettability between MD and copper functionalized by the amino group on the MD using a pho-tocatalytic reaction. The functionalization of the diamond surface by amino groups was achieved by treating the MDs in a 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane-containing solution. The amino group functionalized MD was dispersed in the electroplating bath, where copper was deposited on the MD. As a result, the composite material of amino group functionalized MD assisted by photocatalyst and copper improved their interfacial affinity and exhibited the high thermal conductivity of 595 W/m K.