Conventional electroless plating of copper on diamond particles needs SnCl2 sensitization and PdCl2 activation pretreatments, which needs noble metal and consumes a large amount of reducing agent. In this paper, metallic tungsten coatings were first plated onto diamond particles by microwave-heating salt-bath plating (MHSBP) method, and then copper layer was directly plated onto the out surface of the tungsten layer by an electroless plating method with no need of SnCl2 sensitization and PdCl2 activation pretreatments. Composition and morphology of the coatings was analyzed by XRD, SEM, and EDS. The results show that the copper coating on the diamond surfaces can be adjusted by control the concentration of CuSO4 center dot 5H(2)O and plating temperature, and a full copper coating is achieved with content of CuSO4 center dot 5H(2)O of 19.6 g/L in the plating solution at 60 degrees C. The bending strength of the coated diamond/Cu composites is as high as 630 MPa, which increases 93.3% than the uncoated composites. This work presents an electroless plating of copper can directly on the surfaces of diamond particles with no need of conventional sensitization and activation, and a strong interface combination between coated diamond and copper. (C) 2019 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.