Fanfan Zhou, Xiaohong Chen, Ping Liu
The low strength and hardness have been a major limitation for pure copper in many applications. In this work, we have prepared high-performance copper matrix composites ((CNTs-Al 2 O 3 )/Cu) by the in-situ chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth, fast hot press sintering ( FHPS), and hot extrusion (HE) methods. By this approach, the CNTs in the composites are uniformly dispersed and have strong interface bonding with the copper matrix. The composites exhibit high ultimate tensile strength (436±5 MPa), high hardness (136.4±0.24 HV), moderate ductility (8.5±2.7 %) and, while maintaining a high level of electrical conductivity at 88.46±0.84 %IACS. These excellent properties are attributed to the strong interface bonding of the composites. The strengthening mechanisms including grain refinement, orowan strengtheninig, dislocation strengthening, and load transfer were discussed to understand the behaviors of in situ CNTs-Al 2 O 3 hybrids in pure copper. This paper highlights the importance of the in-situ CVD method and HE for improving mechanical properties. This process is simple and suitable for large-scale production, offering a design strategy for the industrial manufacturing of high-strength, high-electrical conductivity composites.