Influence of Copper Powder Morphology on the Microstructure and Properties of Copper Matrix Bulk Composites Reinforced with Ni-doped Graphene

To clarify the effect of copper powder morphology on the microstructure and properties of copper matrix bulk composites reinforced with Ni-doped graphene, spherical and dendritic copper powders were selected to fabricate the Ni-doped graphene reinforced copper matrix bulk composites. The Ni-doped graphene were synthesized by hydrothermal reduction method, followed by mixing with copper powders, and then consolidated by spark plasma sintering. It is found that the Ni-doped graphene are well bonded with the dendritic copper powder, whereas Ni-doped graphene are relatively independent on the spherical copper powder. The copper base bulk composite prepared by the dendritic copper powder has better properties than that prepared by spherical copper powder. At 0.5wt.% Ni-doped graphene, the dendritic copper base bulk composite has a good combination of hardness, electrical conductivity and yield strength, which are 81.62 HV, 87.93% IACS and 164 MPa, respectively.