Microstructure and Tribological Properties of the Electroless Ag‐Coated Carbon Fibers Reinforced Copper Matrix Composites

The electroless silver (Ag)‐plating process using glucose as reducing agent is developed to deposit uniform Ag coatings on carbon fiber (CF) surfaces, in order to address the interfacial bonding and wettability issues between CFs and Cu matrix. The Ag‐coated CFs are then consolidated into Cu matrix composites via a hot‐pressing process. The microstructure, mechanical, electrical, and tribological properties of the fabricated CFs/Cu composites are investigated. The results revealed that the Ag interlayer improved interfacial bonding and reduced interfacial contact resistance. The fabricated CFs/Cu composites exhibited increased microhardness, compressive yield strength, and good electrical conductivity. The optimized 2.5 wt% Ag‐coated CFs/Cu composite showed a superior performance combination with 96.5 HV 0.1 in microhardness and 310 MPa in compressive yield strength, which are twice of the referenced pure Cu. This composite also possessed 90.1 IACS% electrical conductivity. The tribological tests demonstrated reduced coefficient of friction and wear rate due to the self‐lubricating effects of the CFs. This article highlights the potential of Ag‐coated CF/Cu composites as high‐performance materials for applications requiring high electrical conductivity, high‐strength as well as superior tribological properties.