Fabrication, mechanical and thermal properties of tungsten-copper coated graphite flakes reinforced copper matrix composites

•A W-Cu composite coating was deposited on the graphite flakes by combing the impregnation reduction and ultrasonic-assisted electroless plating.•The W-Cu composite coating can enhance the GFs/Cu interfacial bonding from the simple mechanical connection to the mechanical-metallurgical synergy.•For the GFs(7 W-Cu)/Cu composites, the in-plane flexural strength and TC reached 189.6 ± 3.8 MPa and 929.8 ± 5.0 Wm−1K−1, respectively.