Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p> 3D graphene networks offer significant potential for enhancing the mechanical and functional performance of metal matrix composites. In this study, sucrose was employed as a solid carbon precursor and homogeneously mixed with nickel (Ni) powders to enable <italic>in situ</italic> graphene formation through rapid thermal annealing (RTA). This approach eliminates the need for conventional graphene dispersion techniques and enables a uniform and efficient incorporation of graphene within the metal matrix. During the RTA process, three-dimensional multi-layer graphene like networks (3D-GLNs) were synthesized on the surfaces of Ni particles while maintaining their powder morphology. The resulting graphene-coated powders were subsequently consolidated through spark plasma sintering (SPS) process to fabricate dense bulk composites. The fabricated 3D-GLNs/Ni nanocomposites exhibited a notable balance of strength, toughness and ductility. Under the optimized processing conditions, the composite achieved a 33.53% increase in yield strength and 54.93% increase in ultimate tensile strength compared with pure Ni. This demonstrates the clear strengthening advantage of in-situ grown GLNs over a pure Ni matrix. This approach provides a versatile route for producing metal matrix composites with enhanced overall performance. </p>