In order to improve the interfacial bonding between copper and graphite, the quasi-spherical graphite powders were coated with nickel-iron alloy and copper in sequence by electroless plating. Copper/nickel-iron-coated graphite composites (graphite content: 80 vol%) were successfully prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS). For comparison, copper/graphite composites with graphite content of 80 vol% were prepared by the same process. The microstructure, mechanical, electrical and wear properties of copper/nickel-iron-coated graphite composites were compared with those of copper/graphite composites. The results indicated that the introduction of nickel-iron coating obviously improved the wettability between copper and graphite due to the formation of carbides (Fe3C), borides (FeB, Fe3B and Ni3B) and solid solution. The metal phases in copper/nickel-iron-coated graphite composites were distributed uniformly and formed an excellent interconnected network. Compared with copper/graphite composites, the as-fabricated copper/nickel-iron-coated graphite composites showed better mechanical and wear-resisting properties, especially the bending strength increased from 42 MPa to 73 MPa, and did less damage to the pure copper counterpart ring. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.