How to overcome strength-electrical conductivity trade-off is essential for functional and structural applications of Cu matrix composites. Here we propose a new dispersion and strengthening strategy to prepare graphene/Cu matrix composites. The graphene reinforcements are in situ exfoliated from graphite flakes through plasma assisted ball milling, and are intra-/inter-granularly dispersed in the Cu matrix after hot-rolling process. The graphene/Cu matrix composite has high tensile strength up to ∼497 MPa and electrical conductivity of 84.2% IACS, contributed by intra-/inter-granular graphene with average size of about 22 nm and 132 nm, respectively. In-situ electron microscopy and molecular dynamic simulation are performed to investigate deformation behavior of the composites, revealing that interaction between intra-/inter-granular graphene and dislocations effectively increase dislocation storage ability. This work offers a general pathway for fabricating graphene/Cu matrix composite with well-balanced strength and electrical conductivity.

中文翻译：

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用从石墨原位剥离的晶内/晶间石墨烯增强的铜具有高强度和高导电性

如何克服强度与电导率之间的权衡对于铜基复合材料的功能和结构应用至关重要。在这里，我们提出了一种新的分散和强化策略来制备石墨烯/铜基复合材料。石墨烯增强体通过等离子体辅助球磨从石墨片中原位剥离，并在热轧过程后颗粒内/颗粒间分散在铜基体中。石墨烯/铜基复合材料具有高达~497 MPa的高拉伸强度和84.2% IACS的电导率，这是由平均尺寸分​​别约为22 nm和132 nm的晶内/晶间石墨烯贡献的。通过原位电子显微镜和分子动力学模拟研究了复合材料的变形行为，揭示了晶内/晶间石墨烯与位错之间的相互作用有效地提高了位错存储能力。这项工作为制造具有良好平衡的强度和导电性的石墨烯/铜基复合材料提供了一条通用途径。