Preparation and mechanical properties of graphene reinforced CuCr25 composites

Abstract:

Novel graphene reinforced CuCr25 matrix composites (GCMC) with high hardness and conductivity are successfully prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) under high pressure and low temperature after low speed ball-milling mix. It is confirmed that the graphene is remained and no new phase is found by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. Structural characterization of GCMC is performed using field emission scanning electron microscope（SEM） and energy dispersive spectroscopy（EDS）, which reveals that the graphene is homogeneously distributed in matrix after sintering process. The hardness of GCMC with 1wt.% graphene sintered under 300MPa and 600°C is increased by 11.3% than the values of CuCr25 alloys fabricated by the same method, though the conductivity is decreased by 4.2%. Comparing with the CuCr25 alloys consolidated by conventional method, the conductivity and hardness of new-type GCMC are about 1.35 and 1.48 times higher respectively, which indicates that the additional phase and new process all make contributions to the enhancement of GCMC.