METAL COMPOSITES

The product of and a process for forming a metal composite comprising particles of a carbon allotrope dispersed in a metal or a mixture of metals. In one embodiment, the process includes the steps of: (a) contacting particles of a carbon allotrope with surfactant having an organic portion and an anionic portion wherein the anionic portion is bonded to the organic portion and wherein the anionic portion is ionically associated with a cation so that the organic portion of the surfactant is adsorbed onto the surface of the particles of the carbon allotrope to produce surfactant modified particles; (b) contacting the surfactant modified particles with a transition metal cation and/or a post-transition metal cation and/or mixtures thereof to replace some or all of the cations of the surfactant modified particles with a transition metal cation and/or a post-transition metal cation and/or mixtures thereof to produce metal ion modified particles; (c) mixing the metal ion modified particles with a metal or a mixture of metals to form a mixture thereof; and (d) processing the mixture to form a metal composite comprising particles of the carbon allotrope dispersed in the metal or mixture of metal. In another embodiment the process includes the steps of: (a) contacting particles of a carbon allotrope with a surfactant having an organic portion and an anionic portion wherein the anionic portion is bonded to the organic portion and wherein the anionic portion is ionically associated with a transition metal cation and/or a post-transition metal cation and/or mixtures to produce metal ion modified particles; (b) mixing the metal ion modified particles with a metal or a mixture of metals to form a mixture thereof; and (c) processing the mixture to form a metal composite comprising particles of the carbon allotrope dispersed in the metal or mixture of metals.