*2.3. Analysis*

The as-synthesized Ti3SiC2/Cu composites were polished using 0.5 um polishing paste by an automatic polishing machine (AutoMetTM250, Yigong Testing and Measuring Instrument Co., Ltd. Shanghai, China) for microscopic evaluation. In order to expose the grains, the polished samples were etched using a 1:1:1 by volume HF:HNO3:H2O solution and observed under optical microscopy (MDJ-DM, Chongqing Auto Optical Instrument Co., Ltd., Chongqing, China). The compression fracture morphology of Ti3SiC2/Cu composites was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM, JSM-6510LA, JEOL Japan Electronics Co., Ltd., Zhaodao, Japan) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was carried out on a DX-2700B diffractometer (Dandong Haoyuan Instrument Co., Ltd., Dandong, China) with Cu Kα radiation at a scanning rate of 7.2 ◦/min to identify the phase composition of Ti3SiC2/Cu composites.
