Composite powder with iron based particles coated with graphene material

A method of producing a composite powder suitable for powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing processes, the composite powder comprising particles of an iron based material with a coating of a graphene based material, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing an iron base metal powder with a known size distribution;
• providing a graphene based material in dispersion;
• diluting the graphene based material and adjusting the pH with addition of a basic substance, while recording the concentration of the graphene based material in the solution, wherein the pH is adjusted to be between 3 and 9;
• separating graphene agglomerates of the graphene material by sonication or agitation;
• dispersing the iron based metal powder in de-ionized water to create a slurry with predetermined iron based metal to water weight ratio;
• adding the graphene material dispersion to the iron based metal powder slurry in intervals or at a predetermined rate and mixing thoroughly for a predetermined time period;
• and
• drying the composite powder,
• wherein the amount of the added graphene material dispersion is adjusted so that the concentration of the graphene material in the dried composite powder is between 0.1 wt % and 1.0 wt %.