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The potential usage of Copper (Cu) is very limited, where combined mechanical and thermal properties are desirable, which can be overcome by using carbon nanotube (CNT) as a reinforcement. An attempt was made to synthesize Cu/CNT composites by varying CNT diameter and its concentration through a molecular level mixing technique followed by uniaxial compaction and conventional sintering. The sintering behaviour of Cu and Cu/CNT composites was studied to understand the influence of different parameters. The sintering duration of Copper was decreased with an increase of CNT diameter. The maximum enhancement of properties was achieved at 0.25 wt.% CNT irrespective of its diameter, where the thermal conductivity and hardness were obtained as 328 W/mK at 20–40 nm diameter CNT composites and 81.2 ± 2.9 VHN at 40–60 nm diameter CNT composites, respectively. The conventional method of synthesize can generate the desired characteristics of composites at par with high end techniques, such as SPS.

Copper (Cu) gained its importance in several applications due to its attractive thermal characteristics. However, its applications are limited, wherever high strength and high thermal conductivity are desirable. Thus, an attempt was made to develop Cu/CNT composites having the improved mechanical and thermal properties. Initially, Cu/CNT composite powder was synthesized through molecular level mixing technique, where the functionalized 20–40 nm and 40–60 nm diameter CNT with varying concentrations from 0.25 to 1.0 wt.% with an increment of 0.25 wt.% were used. The powder was uniaxially compacted at 800 MPa and sintered in the range of 2–8 hr at 900 °C. The best characteristics of Cu/CNT composites obtained from the present study are as follows: Relative density (RD) – 89.1%, Hardness – 61.2 ± 0.58 VHN, Thermal conductivity – 343 W/mK and these characteristics obtained their maximum value at 0.25 wt.% CNT concentration and started to decrease irrespective of CNT diameter.