Influence of porogen type and copper powder morphology on property of sintering copper porous materials

Copper porous materials have been manufactured by the method of powder metallurgy. Electrolytic copper powders and atomized copper powders are used as matrix material. Methylcellulose and paraffin are used as porogen. The influence of porogen type and copper powder morphology on the property of copper porous materials is investigated as well. The results show that copper porous materials with paraffin as porogen have lower porosity and permeability compared with materials using methylcellulose as porogen, due to the different pore-forming mechanisms. The pore forming mechanism of methylcellulose is thermal decomposition, while the pore forming mechanism of paraffin is melting–evaporation. The morphology of copper powders affects the contact state between adjacent powders, which further influence the sintering shrinkage. The porous materials using arborescent copper powders as matrix have lower porosity, smaller pore size and lower permeability, compared with materials with atomized copper powders as matrix.