Microstructures and Properties of Cu-rGO Composites Prepared by Microwave Sintering.

Xuebin Chen,Liwu Jiang,Haizhou Wang,Lei Zhao

doi:10.3390/ma14174899

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of microwave sintering on the microstructures and properties of copper-rGO composites. Graphene oxide was coated onto copper particles by wet ball milling, and copper-rGO composites were formed upon microwave sintering in an argon atmosphere. Scanning electron microscopy was then used to observe the mixing in the ball-milled composite powder, and the morphology of the bulk composite after microwave sintering. Raman spectra revealed how graphene oxide changed with ball milling and with microwave sintering. The microhardness, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity of the composite were also measured. The results showed that graphene oxide and copper particles were well combined and uniformly distributed after wet ball milling. The overall microhardness of microwave-sintered samples was 81.1 HV, which was 14.2% greater than that of pure copper (71 HV). After microwave sintering, the microhardness of the samples in areas showing copper oxide precipitates with eutectic structures was 89.5 HV, whereas the microhardness of the precipitate-free areas was 70.6 HV. The electrical conductivity of the samples was 87.10 IACS%, and their thermal conductivity was 391.62 W·m−1·K−1.

Highlights

Graphene (Gr) and its family are extensively used as fillers with metals due to their overall extraordinary properties such as excellent strength and hardness, the highest value of thermal conductivity, and larger surface area [1,2]
We used scanning electron microscope (SEM) to investigate the distribution of Cu and graphene oxide (GO) within the composites
Was generally distributed around the Cu particles (Figure 2e). These results indicated that sults indicated that the Cu powder and GO were fully mixed after ball milling; GO was the Cu powder and GO were fully mixed after ball milling; GO was combined with the Cu combined with the

Summary

Introduction

Graphene (Gr) and its family are extensively used as fillers with metals due to their overall extraordinary properties such as excellent strength and hardness, the highest value of thermal conductivity, and larger surface area [1,2]. Chu et al fabricated Cu-rGO composites by using conventional powder metallurgy. They enhanced the yield strength (146 MPa) and ultimate tensile (214 MPa) of composites considerably [5]. Zhang et al reported the effect of GNPs and rGO on the thermo-mechanical properties of the Cu matrix They observed firstly the strength is increased with low concentration [7]. All these characteristics make graphene an ideal material for enhancing the electrical and thermal conductivities of metals, through the formation of high-performance graphene composites.

Methods

Results

Conclusion