Additive Manufacturing of Electrically Conductive Multi-Layered Nanocopper in an Air Environment

The additive manufacturing (AM) of functional copper (Cu) parts is a major goal for many industries, from aerospace to automotive to electronics, because Cu has a high thermal and electrical conductivity as well as being ~10× cheaper than silver. Previous studies on AM of Cu have concentrated mainly on high-energy manufacturing processes such as Laser Powder Bed Fusion, Electron Beam Melting, and Binder Jetting. These processes all require high-temperature heat treatment in an oxygen-free environment. This paper shows an AM route to multi-layered microparts from novel nanoparticle (NP) Cu feedstocks, performed in an air environment, employing a low-power (<10 W) laser sintering process. Cu NP ink was deposited using two mechanisms, inkjet printing, and bar coating, followed by low-power laser exposure to induce particle consolidation. Initial parts were manufactured to a height of approximately 100 µm, which was achieved by multi-layer printing of 15 (bar-coated) to 300 (inkjetted) layers. There was no evidence of oxidised copper in the sintered material, but they were found to be low-density, porous structures. Nonetheless, electrical resistivity of ~28 × 10^-8 Ω m was achieved. Overall, the aim of this study is to offer foundational knowledge for upscaling the process to additively manufacture Cu 3D parts of significant size via sequential nanometal ink deposition and low-power laser processing.