(Yicai) April 17 -- Chinese scientists have developed a super copper foil that combines ultrahigh tensile strength, high electrical conductivity and excellent thermal stability, breaking the constraints of what is known as the “impossible triangle” of metal materials. The breakthrough is seen as highly significant for the future development of the electronics and new energy industries.

A research team from the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences created the material through a special preparation process, according to a study published in the academic journal Science yesterday. Inside an ultra-thin copper foil just 10 micrometers thick, they formed a large number of super-nano domains, each only 3 nanometers in size and arranged in a specific order, which significantly boosts performance.

Copper foil is a key raw material used in integrated circuits and lithium batteries. With the rapid growth of artificial intelligence and the new energy industry, demand for higher-performance copper foil continues to rise. However, conventional copper foil struggles to simultaneously achieve high strength, conductivity and thermal stability, making this trade-off a major bottleneck for related industries.

Through this microstructure design, the tensile strength of this new type of copper foil reaches up to 900 megapascals, surpassing the strength limit of conventional copper foils. At the same time, its conductivity is about three times higher than that of copper alloys with similar strength levels. Even after being stored at room temperature for nearly half a year, no degradation was found in its performance, effectively breaking the “impossible triangle,” the study said.

The 10-micrometer-thick foils are produced through an industrially scalable electrodeposition process, which thus holds substantial promise for making foils for lithium-ion batteries and integrated circuits, said Marc S. Lavine, editor of the research.

This research not only provides a brand-new design approach for high-performance copper foils, but also demonstrates the potential of nanoscale microstructure engineering in the development of next-generation materials, CAS said. It is of great significance for the development of the electronics and new energy industries.

Editor: Kim Taylor