A novel approach to fabricate layered RGO/Cu composites with excellent mechanical properties

JF Zhang and F Liu and BY Chen and Y Xu and QF Li and Z Wu and ZB Qin and YC Liu and WB Hu, JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS, 944, 169101 (2023).

DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2023.169101

The preparation of copper matrix composites with high graphene content is difficult, facing the problem of graphene agglomeration. This study proposed a layer-by-layer electrodeposition method to obtain the re- duced graphene oxide/copper (RGO/Cu) composite with a layered structure. It was found that the layered distribution of RGO avoided the occurrence of agglomeration effectively, which was conducive to the ex-cellent mechanical strength and toughness of the composite. The strength of the RGO/Cu composite in-creased with the number of layers, and the tensile strength of the 29-layer composite was 34.2 % higher than that of pure copper. While, its elongation remained at the same level as that of pure copper. The toughening and strengthening mechanism of layered RGO in the composite was analyzed by molecular dynamics simulation. Confinement on crack propagation and strain energy consumption by sliding of layered RGO were identified as the reason for maintaining the high toughness of the composite, and stress transfer, grain refinement and dislocation strengthening were contributed to the high tensile strength.(c) 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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