Manufacturing of high strength and high conductivity copper with laser powder bed fusion

• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45732-y
• Publication Date: 2024-02-12T06:02:37Z
• Authors: Yingang Liu; Jingqi Zhang; Ranming Niu; Mohamad Bayat; Ying Zhou; Yu Yin; Qiyang Tan; Shiyang Liu; Jesper Henri Hattel; Miaoquan Li; Xiaoxu Huang; Julie Cairney; Yi-Sheng Chen; Mark Easton; Christopher Hutch...; Ming-Xing Zhang
• Keywords: Thermal Stability

Abstract Additive manufacturing (AM), known as 3D printing, enables rapid fabrication of geometrically complex copper (Cu) components for electrical conduction and heat management applications. However, pure Cu or alloys produced by printing often suffer from either low strength conductivity at room elevated temperatures. Here, we demonstrate a design strategy high strength, uniformly dispersing minor portion lanthanum hexaboride (LaB 6 ) nanoparticles in through laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF). We show that trace additions LaB to results an improved L-PBF processability, enhanced thermal stability, all whilst maintaining conductivity. The presented could expand the applicability printed more demanding conditions where stability are required.