Cu matrix composites reinforced with chopped carbon fiber (CF), which is cost effective and can be well dispersed, are fabricated using electroless plating and hot pressing, and the effects of content and alignment of CF on the thermal properties of CF/Cu composites are studied. Thermal conductivity of CF/Cu composite increases with CF content in the in-plane direction, but it decreases above 10% CF; this is due to reduction of thermal diffusivity related with phonon scattering by agglomeration of CF. The coefficient of thermal expansion decreases in the in-plane direction and increases in the through-plane direction as the CF content increases. This is because the coefficient of thermal expansion of the long axis of CF is smaller than that of the Cu matrix, and the coefficient of thermal expansion of its short axis is larger than that of the Cu matrix. The thermal conductivity is greatly influenced by the agglomeration of CF in the CF/Cu composite, whereas the coefficient of thermal expansion is more influenced by the alignment of CF than the aggregation of CF.

In order to analyze the effect of hot asymmetric rolling on the microstructure and texture of aluminum alloy and to investigate the effect of the texture on the formability and plastic anisotropy of aluminum alloy, aluminum 6061 alloy is asymmetrically rolled at room temperature, 200 ℃, 350 ℃, and 500 ℃, and the results are compared with symmetrically rolled results. In the case of asymmetric rolling, the equivalent strain (εeq) is greatest in the upper roll part where the rotational speed of the roll is high and increases with increasing rolling temperature. The increase rate of the mean misorientation angle with increasing temperature is larger than that during symmetrical rolling, and dynamic recrystallization occurs the most when asymmetrical rolling is performed at 500 ℃. In the case of hot symmetric rolling, the {001}<110> rotated cube orientation mainly develops, but in the case of hot asymmetric rolling, the {111}<110> orientation develops along with the {001}<100> cube orientation. The hot asymmetric rolling improves the formability (r) of the aluminum 6061 alloy to 0.9 and reduces the plastic anisotropy (Δr) to near zero due to the {111}<110> shear orientation that develops by asymmetric rolling.

We investigate the reduction of SnO2 and the generation of syngas(H2, CO) using methane(CH4) and hydrogen(H2) or a mixed gas of methane and hydrogen as a reducing gas. When methane is used as a reducing gas, carbon is formed by the decomposition of methane on the reduced Sn surface, and the amount of generated carbon increases as the amount and time of the supply of methane increases. However, when hydrogen is used as a reducing gas, carbon is not generated. High purity Sn of 99.8 % and a high recovery rate of Sn of 93 % are obtained under all conditions. The effects of reducing gas species and the gas mixing ratio on the purity and recovery of Sn are not significantly different, but hydrogen is somewhat more effective in increasing the purity and recovery rate of Sn than methane. When 1 mole of methane and 1 mole of hydrogen are mixed, a product gas with an H2/CO value of 2, which is known to be most useful as syngas, is obtained.

To study the effects of graphite shape and the composite fabricating method on the mechanical properties of graphite/copper (Gr/Cu) composites, a copper composite using graphite flakes or graphite granules as reinforcing phases is fabricated using mechanical mixing or electroless plating method. The mechanical properties of the Gr/Cu composites are evaluated by compression tests, and the compressive strength and elongation of the Gr/Cu composites using graphite granules as a reinforcing phase are compared with those of Cu composites with graphite flakes as a reinforcing phase. The compressive yield strength or maximum strength of the Gr/Cu composites with graphite granules as a reinforcing phase is higher than that of the composites using graphite flakes as a reinforcing phase regardless of the alignment of graphite. The strength of the composite produced by the electroless plating method is higher than that of the composite material produced by the conventional mechanical mixing method regardless of the shape of the graphite. Using graphite granules as a reinforcing phase instead of graphite flakes improves the strength and elongation of the Gr/Cu composites in all directions, and reduces the difference in strength or elongation according to the direction.

Cu circuits were successfully fabricated on flexible PET(polyethylene terephthalate) substrates using wettability difference and electroless plating without an etching process. The wettability of Cu plating solution on PET was controlled by oxygen plasma treatment and SiOx-DLC(silicon oxide containing diamond like carbon) coating by HMDSO(hexamethyldisiloxane) plasma. With an increase of the height of the nanostructures on the PET surface with the oxygen plasma treatment time, the wettability difference between the hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity increased, which allowed the etchless formation of a Cu pattern with high peel strength by selective Cu plating. When the height of the nanostructure was more than 1400 nm (60 min oxygen plasma treatment), the reduction of the critical impalement pressure with the decreasing density of the nanostructure caused the precipitation of copper in the hydrophobic region.

This paper deals with the effects of the surfactant and preplate process (sensitization and activation) on electroless copper plating on carbon nano-fiber (CNF). Ultrasonic irradiation was applied both during dispersion of CNF and during electroless plating containing preplate process. The dispersion of CNF and flatness of the plated copper film were discussed based on the changes in surfactant concentration and preplate process time. It was clearly shown that high concentration of surfactant and long time of preplate process could promote the agglomeration of CNF and uneven copper plating on CNF.