<p>The main aim of this research was to simplify the fabricating process of graphite-copper composites by doing the electroless Sn coating on the surface of the copper-coated graphite powder and to propose one way to eliminate the waste of energy in the reducing process and overcome the complexity of hydrogen production. In this paper, Ni/Cu/Sn-coated graphite powder was fabricated by 3-step electroless plating and the graphite-copper composites with high performance was fabricated by plasma sintering, and the characteristics of the friction wear of Sn-coated graphite-copper composites and its mechanical properties have been studied. The results showed that the composites which were fabricated with Ni/Cu/Sn-coated graphite powder had the characteristics of high performance such as the wear rate, the friction coefficient, hardness and density when compared to the non-coating materials. When the content of Sn is 5% and the load is 450N, all values reached the optimal values (wear rate 15.4&#xa0;mm³/m × 10⁻³, hardness 62.3HB, density 6.2&#xa0;g/cm³). Ni/Cu/Sn-coated graphite powder could significantly improve the properties of the electrical sliding materials and self-lubricating materials. It also can be used to shield the electromagnetic radiation and can be combined with materials such as graphene, carbon fiber and TiA1C₂ to fabricate new functional materials with high performance.</p>