Effect of graphene addition on the physicomechanical and tribological properties of Cu nanocomposites

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the mechanical and tribological properties of Cu-graphene nanosheets (GN) nanocomposites. We employed the electroless coating process to coat GNs with Ag particles to avoid its reaction with Cu and the formation of intermetallic phases. We analyzed the effect of GN content on the structural, mechanical, and tribological properties of the produced nanocomposites. Results showed that the electroless coating process is an efficient technique to avoid the reaction between Cu and C and the formation of intermetallic phases. The addition of GNs significantly improves the mechanical and tribological properties of Cu nanocomposites. However, the addition of GNs needs to be done carefully because, after a certain threshold value, the mechanical and tribological properties are negatively affected. The optimum GN content is determined to be 0.5vol%, at which hardness, wear rate, and coefficient of friction are improved by 13%, 81.9%, and 49.8%, respectively, compared with Cu nanocomposites. These improved properties are due to the reduced crystallite size, presence of GNs, and homogenous distribution of the composite constituents.