A novel copper-matrix composite with fullerene soot nanoparticles produced by molecular level mixing

Abstract The presented work demonstrates the capability of applying fullerene soot nanoparticles as a phase for strengthening of Cu. Copper-fullerene soot composites with 0–5 wt% carbon additions were fabricated by molecular level mixing and hot pressing procedure. The structure was observed by light microscopy, SEM, EBSD, and analyzed by XRD. The hardness, thermal conductivity, and coefficient of friction were investigated. The hardness of the composite continuously increases with carbon soot additions and reaches 128 HB at 5% of fullerene soot. Full strengthening of the composites is mainly attributed to the Orowan strengthening and the grain-size refinement.