Fabrication of Nanoporous Copper Ribbons through Dealloying of Al-Cu-Mn Alloys

We present a new Al-Cu-Mn system to fabricate nanoporous copper ribbons by dealloying. The microstructures of the nanoporous copper ribbons are characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The results show that the compositions of the melt-spun Al-Cu-Mn alloys have an important effect on the dealloying process and microstructures of the nanoporous copper ribbons. The melt-spun Cu30Al40Mn30, Cu30Al35Mn35, Cu30Al30Mn40 and Cu30Al25Mn45 (at.%) alloys can completely form a bicontinuous interpenetrating ligament-channel structure. Compared with other alloys, the dealloying of Cu30Al40Mn30 alloys is more difficult. In addition, for Cu30Al35Mn35 and Cu30Al30Mn40 alloys, porous structures are relatively uniform. But for the Cu30Al25Mn45 alloys, porous structure is not uniform, occurring aggregation phenomenon.