Copper Foam is a new multi-functional material with a large number of connected or unconnected pores evenly distributed in the copper matrix. Copper foam has good conductivity and ductility, and its preparation cost is lower than that of nickel foam, and its conductivity is better. It can be used to prepare battery negative (carrier) materials, catalyst supports, and electromagnetic shielding materials. In particular, foamed copper is used as the base material of the battery as an electrode, which has some obvious advantages, but copper has a lower corrosion resistance than nickel, which limits its application.

Preparation
Electrodeposition method: Using polyurethane flexible foam as the matrix, a three-dimensional network pore structure with uniform distribution, high porosity (>95%) and certain stretch is prepared through pretreatment, chemical deposition, electrodeposition and incineration and thermal reduction processes Strong foam copper material.
Sintering method: using copper powder and NaCl particles as raw materials, a method of preparing through-hole foamed copper by sintering-desolving technology, mixing NaCl particles with electrolytic copper powder and additives, pressing it to obtain a green body, and placing it in the sintering furnace in argon After sintering in an air atmosphere, the resulting article is placed in a circulating hot water device to dissolve the NaCl particles, and then washed in an ultrasonic water bath and acetone, and finally dried, that is, an opening composed of a three-dimensional interconnected spatial network is prepared , Through-hole foamed copper products with a porosity of 50 to 81%, an average pore size of 0.2 to 4 mm and micro holes in the matrix.

Copper foam is a new type of functional material, which is mainly used in the following fields:
(1) Electrode material. Excellent electrical conductivity makes foamed copper widely used as electrode frame materials for new batteries such as nickel-zinc batteries and electric double layer capacitors. At present, foamed copper has been tested by many nickel-zinc battery manufacturers and put into mass use. At the same time, foam Copper is expected to be widely used as an electrode collector for electric double layer capacitors. In addition, the use of copper foam as an electrode material for electrolytic recovery of copper-containing wastewater also has very broad prospects.

(2) Catalyst. In many organic chemical reactions, people try to directly use the foamed copper with a large specific surface area to replace the punched copper plate as a chemical reaction catalyst; the foamed copper as a photocatalytic air purification carrier has also been successfully applied.

(3) Thermally conductive material. Copper foam has excellent thermal conductivity, making it a flame-retardant material with excellent performance, and it has been used in many advanced fire-fighting equipment abroad, especially as a flame insulation equipment; it has excellent effects; in addition, people use the excellent thermal conductivity of copper foam And apparent permeability, made into heat dissipation materials for motors and electrical appliances.

(4) Silencing and shielding materials. Acoustic waves diffusely reflect on the surface of the foamed copper, and achieve the effect of sound attenuation through the principles of expansion sound attenuation and micro-hole sound attenuation. The shielding performance of copper is close to that of silver, and it is an electromagnetic shielding material with excellent performance.

(5) Filter material. Copper foam metal products with excellent structural characteristics and basically harmless to human body have also been successfully applied as medical filter materials; at the same time, the application of copper foam in water purification devices also has a good future.

(6) Fluid pressure buffer material. Copper foam has a dispersing and buffering effect on the fluid, making it a decompression protection device for various pressure instruments with excellent effects.