Improving mechanical and thermal property of pure copper matrix simultaneously by carbonized polymer dots (CPD) cluster reinforcement

A novel carbonized polymer dots (CPD)/copper (Cu) composite was successfully synthesized via molecular level mixing (MLM) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) process. Microstructure analysis shows that the CPD clusters are well dispersed at the Cu grain interfaces by forming an amorphous carbon (AC) network with a large number of inserted graphene carbon dots (some of them show the typical graphene microstructure). Mechanical properties of the CPD/Cu composite are remarkably higher than that of pure Cu sample, which increases initially with CPD wt.% and then decreases. 0.4 wt% CPD/Cu composite obtains ~47% higher strength than that of pure Cu matrix. Meanwhile, the thermal conductivity is improved from 305 W/m·K to 360 W/m·K without any adverse impact on the mechanical properties. This study provides new insights into the preparation of the advanced Cu composite with enhanced comprehensive performance.