A novel approach to achieve high strength, high plasticity and high conductivity of graphene/Cu composites with graphene core-shell structure

Abstract

The synergy between mechanical strength and ductility as well as electrical conductivity (EC) is of great importance for the application of Cu matrix composites (CMCs). In this work, a Cu@reduced graphene oxide (RGO) core-shell structure was purposively constructed to prepare RGO/Cu composites. The results show that this core-shell structure prepared by electrostatic adsorption and chemical reduction is beneficial to the uniform distribution of RGO and the formation of Cu-O-C bonds at the RGO/Cu interface. Compared with pure Cu, the yield strength (YS) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of the RGO/Cu composite with only 1% RGO are improved by 119% and 40%, respectively. While it maintains high ductility and EC, almost consistent with that of pure Cu. The core-shell structure enhances the load transfer efficiency of the RGO/Cu interface, and reduces the interfacial obstruction of electron transport. This work achieves a good balance of mechanical strengthening and electrical conducting, which provides a new strategy for the development of graphene/Cu composites.