Enhancement of the mechanical properties of graphene-copper composites with graphene-nickel hybrids

The present work reports the mechanical improvement in Cu matrix composites reinforced with graphene nanosheets decorated with Ni nanoparticles (GNS-Ni) hybrids. The GNS-Ni hybrids were firstly synthesized by an in situ chemical reduction method and then incorporated into the Cu matrix to fabricate bulk GNS-Ni/Cu composites by spark plasma sintering. Benefiting from the unique characteristic of GNS-Ni hybrids, the GNS-Ni/Cu composites exhibited homogeneously dispersed GNSs and a strong GNS-Cu interface interaction, therefore leading to a 61% increase in Young׳s modulus (132 GPa) and a 94% improvement in yield strength (268 MPa) by addition of only 1.0 vol% GNSs. The GNS-Ni/Cu composites exhibited a load transfer mechanism as verified by a modified shear-lag model. Our study thus shows the potential for GNS-Ni hybrids to be successfully used as a reinforcing phase in metal matrix composites.