Microstructures and Properties of Graphene-Cu/Al Composite Prepared by a Novel Process Through Clad Forming and Improving Wettability with Copper

An improved Hummers method was adopted to prepare graphene oxide, which was then plated was plated with copper using a chemical approach to produce graphene-Cu as an enhancement phase. Multilayer graphene was prepared, and its morphology exhibited a thin-slice like structure. A graphene-Cu-reinforced pure aluminum composite with 3wt% graphene-Cu content was prepared by clad rolling. Most of the graphene-Cu and CuO were distributed homogeneously in the composite. The tensile strength and hardness of the graphene-Cu/Al composite were improved by 77.5 and 29.1%, respectively, compared with those of the aluminum matrix. The graphene-Cu contributes to strength enhancement mainly through the synergistic action of two mechanisms: stress transfer and dispersion strengthening. The preliminary results achieved in this work demonstrate that graphene can act as an effective reinforcement in an aluminum matrix.