▎ 摘　　要

Graphene has been utilized to increase the strength of aluminum but electrical conductivity is normally decreased that significantly limits the applications. In this study, nickel-encapsulated graphene was used to maintain the separation of graphene flakes and to form good interfacial bonding between graphene and aluminum as well as to prevent forming degraded Al4C3 phase. Graphene flakes were obtained with ionic salt solution and electroless chemical deposition was used to encapsulate the exfoliated graphene with nickel. Uniform dispersion of graphene in aluminum matrix was achieved by ball milling, and compaction sintering under 50 MPa stress were used to fabricate the composites. The effects of Ni thickness which controlled by changing the deposition time on the resultant mechanical strength and electrical conductivity of the composites were investigated. For graphene addition of 0.1 wt%, the Ni-deposition time of 3 min produces the tensile strength and conductivity of the composite of 158 MPa and 33.6 MS/m, respectively, which are about 75.6% and 4.3% greater than that of pure aluminum, respectively. The increased strength together with the increased electrical conductivity are attributed to the stronger interface bonding owing to the better wetting ability between Ni and Al, as well as preventing the formation of Al4C3.