Non-oxidized graphene/metal composites by laser deposition additive manufacturing

Abstract Graphene-based metallic nanocomposites are promising materials for applications where tailored strength and functionality are required such as space and automotive industries. Additive manufacturing, specifically 3D printing, is currently considered a revolutionary process to tailor and engineer materials for certain applications. Herein, we report fast and reliable approach to prepare mechanically robust, ductile and high thermally conductive graphene-based aluminum nanocomposites using laser deposition manufacturing (LDM). Conventional ball milling was used to homogenously mix graphene platelets and aluminum alloy powder (AlSi7Mg) and then sintered by LDM. Structure-property relations of aluminum/graphene nanocomposites were investigated and thus LDM process was assessed. This includes morphological characterizations such as optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction and energy dispersive spectrometry; and mechanical properties measurements including tensile test and Vickers hardness. The 3D printed Al-alloy/graphene nanocomposites showed increments of 60.7%, 23.03%, 193.7% and 66% in tensile strength, Young’s modulus, elongation at break and Vickers hardness in comparison with pure Al-alloy. This study proved reliability of 3D printing metallic composites with mechanical robustness and other tailored functionality such as thermal conductivity.