Improving thermal and electrical efficiency in lightweight aluminium wires through graphene coating via electrophoretic deposition

The growing demand for electrical energy in several fields makes it crucial to have a performant and sustainable way of transporting electricity; aluminum wires represent an attractive solution to save weight and reduce economic expenses. Improving the electrical performance of wires is fundamental for their usage in several fields, and graphene represents a candidate solution for this scope. In this paper, a novel graphene coating realized through electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is proposed to improve the thermal and electrical properties of lightweight aluminum wires. Voltages, magnesium salts, and salt concentrations in the deposition bath were varied through a full-factorial plan to determine the role of the EPD parameters in the morphology and performances of the coated wires. A significant variation in the roughness and thickness of the coating was noticed by varying the process parameters because of the presence of hydrogen reactions during the deposition. All scenarios presented a reduction in electrical resistivity ranging from – 2.78% to – 4.01%, showing a statistically significant correlation between roughness and resistivity. All the coated wires presented a noteworthy improvement in thermal performance compared to the as-received wire. The analysis of variance was adopted to evaluate the role of EPD parameters in the morphology and performances.