An approach to prepare uniform graphene oxide/aluminum composite powders by simple electrostatic interaction in water/alcohol solution

The homogenous dispersion of graphene in Al powders is a key challenge that limits the development of graphene-reinforced metal matrix composites with high performance. Here, uniform distribution of graphene oxide (GO) coated on flake Al powders were obtained by a simply stirring and ultrasonic treatment in the water/alcohol solution. The effect of water volume content on the formation of GO/Al composite powders was investigated. The results showed that GO adsorbed with synchronous reduction on the surface of Al powders, but when the water content was higher than 80% in the solution, Al powders were totally changed into Al(OH)3. With optimizing the water content of 60% in the solution, reduced GO was homogenously coated onto the surface of flake Al powders. The formation mechanism can be ascribed to the balance control between the liquid/solid interaction and the hydrolysis reaction.