PHYSICO-MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF METALLIC PARTS ELECTROCHEMICALLY PRINTED USING COPPER NITRATE ELECTROLYTE

Abstract

The process of electrochemical 3D printing of copper parts using a concentrated copper nitrate electrolyte has been investigated. It was established that in a nitrate copper plating electrolyte with a copper nitrate concentration of 500 g/l, it is possible to obtain locally electrodeposited metal parts with a compact fine-crystalline structure and an average profile height of 150 μm. The working current densities of electrochemical printing in this case were 2.45…2.7 A/dm2. It has been shown that reducing the speed of movement of the working electrode (anode) leads to an improvement in the uniformity of metal deposition along the entire trajectory of movement and the reduction of the crystals size of the metal deposit. This is obviously a consequence of a change in the current mode of electrodeposition. It was established that on the surface with initial parameters of microroughness (Rz(1)=1.128 Ra(1)=0.2925) during electrochemical 3D printing, a metal structure with roughness parameters – Rz(1)=95.72 Ra(1)=16.32 has been formed. The formation of a compact but at the same time a highly rough metal structure makes the application of the electrochemical 3D printing method promising in the production technology of printed circuit boards and in the field of microelectronics as a whole. The micromechanical tests of samples of electrochemically printed copper deposits showed the following. The microhardness of the electrochemically printed copper deposit is approximately 30% higher, but the plasticity coefficient and Young’s modulus acquire values close to the corresponding parameters of hydrometallurgical copper. This indicates that the method of obtaining metal objects by electrochemical 3D printing does not contribute to a significant deterioration of the elasticity of the obtained material.