Enhancing the mechanical and electrochemical corrosion properties of Cu composites via manipulation of intragranular graphene quantum dots cluster

Intragranular distribution of reinforcements is highly valued for simultaneously improving strength and corrosion resistance in metal composites. Here, we manipulated zero-dimensional graphene quantum dots (GQDs) clusters into Cu grain interiors via a "nanodispersion-in-grains" strategy. The uniformly dispersed GQDs clusters activate multiple hardening mechanisms resulted in superior mechanical strengthening efficiency (Seff = 228). Furthermore, GQDs clusters contribute to induce the twin domains in composites via forming high stress field, which would elevate the grain boundary stability and in turn restrained the corrosion process. Compared with pure Cu, 0.2 GQDs/Cu composite has a lower corrosion current density (1.50 × 10−5 A cm−2), reducing the corrosion rate by 31.2%. Our work has provided a feasible route to broaden the Cu composites application as reliable structural components.