Preparation of a C/C–Cu composite with Mo2C coatings as a modification interlayer

•Mo2C layers were fabricated throughout the internal surface of a C/C preform.•Copper sufficiently penetrated into the pores of the Mo2C-coated C/C perform.•The C/C–Cu composite exhibited better properties than the C/Cu strip.

To improve the wettability between molten copper and carbon and prepare C/C–Cu composites, Mo2C layers were fabricated throughout the internal surface of a C/C preform in molten salt (NaCl–KCl) with ammonium paramolybdate. The Mo2C layers obtained showed a thickness of approximately 1 μm and uniformly covered the internal pore surface of the C/C preform. Mo2C layer formation transformed the non-wettable copper/carbon interface into Mo2C/carbon and wettable Cu/Mo2C interfaces. Good interfacial bonding was observed between Mo2C/C and Cu/Mo2C, and the carbon near the Mo2C layer showed an evidently high degree of orientation. Compared with the C/Cu composite currently used, the C/C–Cu composite prepared in this work showed higher flexural and impact strengths, as well as electrical resistivity reaching the same order of magnitude as that of pure copper.