Study on the Microstructure, Mechanical Properties and Electrical Properties of Copper-Coated Carbon-Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Composites Prepared by Powder Metallurgy Method
摘要
Two aluminum (Al)-based composite materials containing copper-coated graphene (CG) and copper-coated lignin (Cl) were prepared. Ultrasonic dispersion with ethanol and high-energy ball milling were successfully utilized to obtain two reinforcing phase powders of CG and Cl. Subsequently, Al-based composite materials with uniformly distributed reinforcing phases were prepared by vacuum hot-pressing sintering. Tensile tests, hardness tests, and conductivity tests were used to evaluate the strength, plasticity, hardness, and conductivity of the manufactured composites. The results showed that the CG/Al composite exhibited refined grains and a distributed reinforcing phase with higher tensile strength of 214.7 MPa and hardness of 80.1 HV, increasing by 44.8% and 40%, respectively, compared with pure Al. The plasticity and electrical conductivity were lower than those of pure Al, which would have been caused by the addition of the CG-reinforcing phase, which refined and changed the microstructure of the Al-matrix material and caused a certain degree of lattice distortion. The addition of CI reinforcing slightly enhanced the strength of Al-based material, while the plasticity and electrical conductivity were almost unchanged compared with pure Al, because the sintering temperature did not reach the lignin conversion temperature, and thus failed to significantly alter the microstructure.