Method of manufacturing porous metal foam

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9518309-B2
Application number	US-201213731498-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 31, 2012
Priority date	Dec 31, 2012
Publication date	Dec 13, 2016
Grant date	Dec 13, 2016

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a porous metal foam having pores of nano size includes: manufacturing a porous polymer foam containing pores of nano size; and coating metal on the porous polymer foam through electroless plating. The present invention provides porous metal foams which contains nano-sized pores and hence, their specific surface area is maximized owing to the regularly-patterned nanoporous structure formed inside.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of manufacturing a porous metal foam having pores of nano size, the method comprising the steps of:
manufacturing a porous polymer foam containing pores of nano size; and
coating metal on the porous polymer foam through electroless plating,
wherein the manufacturing a porous polymer foam includes:
positioning a cured elastomer having a pattern thereon on a polymer material; and
irradiating ultraviolet (UV) light to the polymer material through the cured elastomer to form the polymer foam containing pores of nano size using diffraction and interference of light.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising the step of: removing the porous polymer foam after the coating step.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming the cured elastomer, including:
casting an elastomer on a wafer having the pattern;
curing the cast elastomer; and
separating the cured elastomer from the wafer.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising etching a surface of the manufactured porous polymer with KMnO 4 and H 2 SO 4 to improve surface roughness of the porous polymer and activate the surface of the porous polymer.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the coating includes:
processing the surface of the porous polymer with a tin chloride (SnCl 2 .H 2 O) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution, or a palladium chloride (PdCl 2 ) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution to attach Sn 2+ or Pd 2+ to the activated surface; and
immersing the polymer foam in a nickel or copper plating liquid.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the polymer foam is processed in the nickel plating liquid, a pH of which ranges from pH 4 to 5.

7. The method as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the polymer foam is processed in the copper plating liquid, a pH of which ranges from pH 11 to 12.

8. A method of manufacturing a porous metal foam having pores of nano size, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) casting an elastomer on a silicon wafer having a pattern;
(b) curing the cast elastomer;
(c) separating the cured elastomer;
(d) attaching a polymer material on a glass substrate;
(e) positioning the elastomer on the polymer material;
(f) irradiating ultraviolet (UV) light to the material of the step (e) to form a polymer foam containing pores of nano size using diffraction and interference of light;
(g) pre-processing the polymer foam of the step (f) to improve surface wettability of the polymer foam; and
(h) coating metal on the pre-processed polymer foam through electroless plating.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8 , further comprising the step of: removing the polymer foam after the step (h).

10. The method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the step (a) comprises:
(a-1) coating a photoresist material on the silicon wafer by a uniform thickness;
(a-2) attaching a photomask for forming the pattern on the photoresist material;
(a-3) irradiating UV light onto the photomask to soften the photoresist material; and
(a-4) etching the softened photoresist material to form the pattern on the silicon wafer.

11. The method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the pre-processing of the step (g) is performed through O 2 plasma or UV cleaner processing.

12. The method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the pre-processing of the step (g) is performed with an ammonium hydroxide solution.

13. The method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the metal coated through electroless plating in the step (h) is nickel or copper.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the coating of step (h) through electroless plating comprises the steps of:
etching a surface with KMnO 4 and H 2 SO 4 to improve surface roughness and activate the surface;
processing the surface with a tin chloride (SnCl 2 .H 2 O) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution, or a palladium chloride (PdCl 2 ) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution to attach Sn 2+ or Pd 2+ to the activated surface; and
immersing the polymer foam in a nickel or copper plating liquid.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the polymer foam is processed in the nickel plating liquid, a pH of which ranges from pH 4 to 5.

16. The method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the polymer foam is processed in the copper plating liquid, a pH of which ranges from pH 11 to 12.

Assignees

• Univ Kookmin Ind Acad Coop Found

Inventors

• Choi Myoung-Geun
• Jo Hyun-Gyung
• Park Hye-Ji
• Noh Yoon-Sook
• Kim Yun-Sung
• Ahn Chang-Ui
• Jeon Seok-Woo
• Kim Dong-Seok
• Kim Do-Kyung
• Choe Hee-Man

Classifications

• C23C18/1644

  porous substrates · CPC title

• C23C18/1657

  Electroless forming, i.e. substrate removed or destroyed at the end of the process · CPC title

• C08J2201/038

  Use of an inorganic compound to impregnate, bind or coat a foam, e.g. waterglass · CPC title

• C23C18/2086

  with use of organic or inorganic compounds other than metals, first · CPC title

• C22C1/08 Primary

  Alloys with open or closed pores · CPC title