In-situ synthesized silver-graphene nanocomposite with enhanced electrical and mechanical properties

Silver-graphene composite materials with enhanced electrical and mechanical properties are reported in this work. Ag nanoparticles are in-situ synthesized on the graphene oxide (GO) by chemical reduction of Ag salt mixed with GO in aqueous solution. After hydrogen reduction of GO, powder metallurgy technique and hot-extruding are employed to prepare Ag-rGO composite bulk material. The composite shows improved mechanical properties. The tensile strength of Ag-rGO composite is up to 190 MPa, 5.5% higher than that of pure Ag. The hardness of Ag-rGO is as high as 75 (HV), which is much higher than most carbon-reinforced Ag materials. Moreover, the ductility and conductivity of the Ag-rGO composite material still keep 43% and 1.6 μΩ cm, respectively. The electrical endurance test demonstrates the Ag-rGO composites owns excellent electrical properties. The material has an electrical endurance of 400,000 under current of 20 A and voltage of 220 V. This promising material has great potential application in electric apparatus.