（1Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research, Xi’an 710016, China) （2School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China) （3School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, China)
Copper tungsten (CuW) composites are widely used as the core parts of various high-voltage circuit breakers because of their high strength, high ablation resistance, anti-fusion and excellent electrical and thermal conductivity. In recent years, with the increasing demand for electric energy in our country, longdistance, ultra-high voltage, large capacity power transmission and transformation have become the development trend, so higher requirements are put forward for the performance of contact materials. This paper introduces the basic physical characteristics of CuW composites, compares the preparation techniques and their advantages and disadvantages, and reviews research progress on performance improvement from nanocrystalline/fine-grain structure and doping modification. At last, the authors think that the modification method of adding CNTs or graphene into the matrix is expected to realize low-cost, large-scale and commercial ablation-resistant CuW composites.