Superplastic deformation of a carbon nanotube reinforced aluminum alloy matrix composite (CNT/6061 Al) fabricated through Flake powder metallurgy (Flake PM) was investigated using uniaxial tensile tests under different temperatures and different strain rates. The result showed that the maximum elongation at 853 K was 106% at strain rate of 4.17E−1 s−1, while the maximum elongation at 673 K was 89% obtained at 4.17E−1 s−1. Threshold stress was evident at lower temperature but insignificant at higher temperature. Strain rate sensitivity and apparent activation energy was determined to be 0.33 and 87.3 kJ/mol, respectively, indicating the grain boundary diffusion controlled mechanism was dominant for this material. With the increase of temperature, partial liquid phase appeared and the reaction of CNT was intensified, which indicated the superplastic deformation of CNT/6061 Al should be conducted at lower temperature (673 K).

Realizing the uniform dispersion of nanocarbons such as carbon nanotube and graphene in metals, is an essential prerequisite to fully exhibit their enhancement effect in mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of metal matrix composites (MMCs). In this work, we propose an effective method to achieve uniform distribution of nanocarbons in various metal flakes through a slurry-based method. It relies on the electrostatic interactions between the negatively charged nanocarbons and the positively charged metal flakes when mixed in slurry. For case study, flake metal powders (Al, Mg, Ti, Fe, and Cu) were positively charged in aqueous suspension by spontaneous ionization or cationic surface modification. While nanocarbons, given examples as carboxylic multi-walled carbon nanotubes, pristine single-walled carbon nanotube, and carbon nanotube–graphene oxide hybrid were negatively charged by the ionization of oxygen-containing functional groups or anionic surfactant. It was found that through the electrostatic interaction mechanism, all kinds of nanocarbons can be spontaneously and efficiently adsorbed onto the surface of various metal flakes. The development of such a versatile method would provide us great opportunities to fabricate advanced MMCs with appealing properties.