Conductive copper plate
Conductive copper sheet is a plate-shaped conductive material made from high-purity copper through rolling, annealing, and other processes. Its copper content is typically above 99.5%, with some high-end products boasting purity levels exceeding 99.9%. Its exceptional conductivity makes it an irreplaceable asset in the power, electronics, and communications sectors. This type of copper sheet is available in a wide range of thicknesses, from 0.5 mm to 50 mm, and customizable widths, from 500 mm to over 2,000 mm. It meets the demands of conductive connections and current transmission in diverse scenarios, and serves as a core material for efficient power transmission in power systems and electronic equipment.
The production of conductive copper sheets requires a series of meticulous steps to ensure their conductivity and dimensional accuracy. First, electrolytic copper with a purity exceeding 99.95% is melted in a smelting furnace. A suitable deoxidizer (such as phosphor copper) is added to remove oxygen and impurities from the molten copper, preventing the formation of pores and oxide inclusions, thereby ensuring the purity of the copper. The molten copper is then formed into copper slabs through continuous casting or hot rolling. Continuous casting is suitable for producing thin slabs, while hot rolling is more suitable for thicker ones. During the casting or rolling process, the temperature (typically between 800°C and 1000°C) and the reduction must be strictly controlled to ensure uniform microstructure and the absence of defects such as cracks. Next, the copper slabs enter the cold rolling process, where the thickness is gradually adjusted to the desired dimensions through multiple rolling passes. The reduction rate in each pass is controlled between 20% and 30% to prevent excessive deformation that could lead to cracking in the sheet. During the rolling process, an intermediate annealing process is required, heating the copper sheet to 300-500°C and holding it there for a period of time to eliminate work hardening and restore the material’s ductility and conductivity. Finally, the finished copper sheet undergoes finishing, shearing, and surface treatment to ensure a smooth surface and precise dimensions to meet the diverse customer requirements.
The performance advantages of conductive copper sheet make it highly competitive in the electrical conductivity field. Its core advantage is its excellent electrical conductivity, reaching over 90% IACS , significantly higher than other metal materials such as aluminum and iron. This effectively reduces energy loss during current transmission, improving the efficiency of power systems and electronic equipment. Regarding thermal conductivity, copper sheet boasts a thermal conductivity of approximately 380W/(m・K) , quickly dissipating heat generated during current transmission, preventing overheating that can affect equipment performance or even damage it. Furthermore, copper sheet exhibits excellent ductility and plasticity, with an elongation exceeding 30 % . This allows for various processes such as bending, stamping, and welding, allowing it to be easily formed into various complex conductive components to meet the structural design requirements of diverse equipment. Furthermore, it exhibits a certain degree of corrosion resistance in atmospheric and dry environments, and the oxide film formed on its surface provides protection, extending its service life and reducing maintenance costs.
Conductive copper sheets are used across multiple industries, including power, electronics, and communications. In power systems, they are often used to manufacture key components such as generator and transformer windings, busbars, and conductive plates. For example, the copper busbars in high-voltage switchgear ensure the safe transmission of high currents through their large cross-sections, ensuring stable operation of the power system. In electronic devices, such as printed circuit board (PCB) substrates and heat sinks for high-power transistors, copper sheets’ high electrical and thermal conductivity ensure the proper functioning and heat dissipation of electronic components. In the communications sector, copper sheets are used to manufacture antenna elements and radio frequency connectors for base stations, ensuring stable signal transmission. In the new energy sector, such as battery buses for electric vehicles and conductive components for charging stations, copper sheets meet the high current and power requirements of electrical conductivity, driving the development of the new energy industry. With the advancement of the power industry and electronic information technology, the application scope of conductive copper sheets continues to expand.
Industry trends indicate that the production of conductive copper sheet is trending toward high purity, high precision, and large sizes. To meet the demands of high-end electronic equipment and ultra-high voltage power systems, the research and development and production of high-purity conductive copper sheet (copper content exceeding 99.99%) has become a hot topic. By optimizing smelting processes and purification technologies, impurity levels are further reduced and conductivity is enhanced. In terms of dimensional accuracy, the introduction of high-precision rolling equipment and online inspection technology allows the thickness tolerance of copper sheet to be controlled within ±0.01 mm and the flatness error to be controlled below 0.5 mm per meter, meeting the assembly requirements of precision electronic equipment. Furthermore, the production capacity of large-size conductive copper sheet continues to increase, currently capable of producing copper sheet with widths exceeding 2,000 mm and lengths exceeding 6,000 mm, suitable for the manufacture of large-scale power equipment. Furthermore, the industry is increasingly prioritizing green production, reducing energy consumption and pollutant emissions during production by adopting clean energy and recycling production waste. In the future, with the rapid development of ultra-high voltage transmission, 5G communications, new energy vehicles and other fields, the demand for high-performance conductive copper plates will continue to grow, driving the industry to achieve more breakthroughs in material research and development, process innovation and other aspects.
