China: China achieves breakthrough in developing high-performance super thin copper foil.

Storyline China achieves breakthrough in developing high-performance super thin copper foil Chinese researchers have developed an ultra-thin 10-micrometer-thick copper foil that’s super strong, highly conductive, and thermally stable - all at the same time. Copper foil is both a channel for electric current and a heat conductor. Historically, improving copper foil’s strength meant decreasing its conductivity, while improving its conductivity meant the foil’s thermal stability got weaker. The newly developed foil redefines this relationship With a tensile strength of about 900 megapascals, the new foil is about twice as strong as typical foil but retains an electrical conductivity equivalent to 90 percent of high-purity copper. The new foil showed no performance decline in six months, compared to some high-strength materials, that see performance degradation within days. These qualities make the new copper foil well suited for electronic devices and batteries that require long-term stability. The findings were published in the journal Science in late April. [Restrictions: No access Chinese mainland]