Direct
growth of graphene on the metal surface opens a door for
obtaining high-performance composites in a simple way. In order to
obtain both high strength and enhanced damping property of the porous
metal, we prepared graphene-coated nickel hybrid foams by chemical
vapor deposition technique and investigated the static and dynamic
mechanical properties using a dynamic mechanical analyzer and vibration
testing systems in detail. We found that the presence of graphene
layers could greatly improve both mechanical strength and damping
properties of nickel foams. The graphene-coated nickel hybrid foams
exhibited high yield strength, compressive modulus, and damping ratio,
increased by 46, 22, and 53% in comparison with those of nickel foams.
Such significant graphene reinforcement in mechanical and damping
properties is mainly attributed to the strong interfacial bonding,
remarkable confinement effect, and rich interfaces in hybrid foams.
By virtue of its high mechanical strength and enhanced damping properties,
the graphene/nickel hybrid foams have great potential to be used as
multifunctional composite materials in many fields.