Effect of Nanocarbons Additions on the Microstructures and Properties of Copper Matrix Composite by Spray Drying Process

Novel copper-nanocarbons – Cu-fullerene soot/reduced graphene oxide composites with 0-5 wt.% carbon additions were fabricated by spray drying method and hot pressing procedure. In order to obtain the homogeneity of composites, the spray drying integrating with shear mixing was adopted. The microstructure and properties of the composite materials were investigated and compared to Cu–graphite composite, which was prepared under the standard technology. The interface, depending on the nanocarbons addition, prevents copper aggregation, and inhibits the copper grain growth. The compact composites hardness was significantly higher as compared with Cu-CNTs and Cu-Graphite composites of the same carbon concentration with small reduction of the thermal conductivity.