New Hybrid Copper Composite Materials Based on Carbon Nanostructures

Abstract

A few-layered graphene was synthesized on the surface of micron-sized copper powder by chemical vapor deposition technique using ethylene as a carbon source in the temperature range from 700 to 940 °C. As a result, we synthesized graphene with 8-12 layers on the surface of copper particles and examined the effect of this material on the mechanical properties of the compacted materials. The copper/graphene composite showed 39% increase in the hardness compared to pure copper. The improvements of 10% and 70% were obtained for the copper composites materials based on graphite and cartbon nanofibers, respectively.