Oxygen-free copper: features, benefits, applications

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Copper is a mineral that has been present in human life for many millennia. In ancient times, it was mainly used to produce bronze alloyed with tin. In Latin, its name is Cuprum. It was given to him by the ancient island of Cyprus, which was one of the first places where copper was mined and smelted from mines.

Historical background, characterization of copper

Copper belongs to the order of basic chemical elements. In its natural (pure) form, it is a metal with a red-orange tint. It is used to make a very large range of products, which include electrical wires, dishes, pipes, car radiators, etc.

Information from archaeologists suggests that copper began to be used more than ten thousand years ago. So the copper pendant, discovered in the northern regions of modern Iraq, was made around 8700 BC.

Copper has high thermal and electrical conductivity and is easy to process both hot and cold. She hasvery high corrosion resistance. This is due to the fact that copper creates a very thin oxide protective layer on its surface as a result of its reaction with oxygen.

Copper has found wide application in the production of acoustic, electrical and other wires, present there as a metal of high purity or with small additions of silver, arsenic, phosphorus, tellurium, sulfur.

Receive process

Highly purified oxygen-free copper is produced in a process called electrical refining. It settles on the cathodes of electric cells, as a result of which it has a different name - cathode copper. The purity reaches about 99.99%. Such a metal is also called oxygen-free copper, which has a high degree of purification (OFC - Oxygen-Free Copper).

Molten pure copper is subsequently poured into special molds that have square or rectangular sections. This process takes place in a vacuum, in the absence of oxygen, which prevents its penetration into the molten metal. The absence of oxygen impurities in such copper significantly increases its electrical conductivity and strength.

Cleanliness

Oxygen-free OFC copper has different degrees of purification. The purity of the metal is indicated as follows: " N". Instead of an asterisk (), a number is inserted that reveals information about the number of nines after the decimal point. Thus, the brand of oxygen-free copper OFC 6N reports that the pure metal in it is 99.999999%. The amount of foreign matter is 0.000001%.

The first production of 6N quality copper was carried out in 1985 in Japan by Nippon Mining Co. Highly purified oxygen-free copper went into mass production in 1987. The main areas of application then were acoustic wires, interconnect network cables.

Currently, quite a lot of manufacturers in the world, including the Russian Federation, produce such pure copper.

Some companies claim that they have achieved a degree of purification above 6 -7N, 8N, etc. But it should be borne in mind that at present there is no unity in determining standards for the purity of oxygen-free copper and its quality. In some cases, the presence of any impurities is simply not taken into account. Typically, such foreign inclusions include silver.

Metal Virtues

Oxygen Free Copper OFC benefits include:

• in a vacuum, when heated, it does not break or become brittle;
• capable of easily changing shape during cold deformation (when exposed to pressure at room temperature or close to them);
• does not change color when under different conditions;
• the average electrical resistance of such a metal is constant;
• conductivity is always high;
• this metal is homogeneous in its structure;
• freely processed by brazing and welding.

Applications

Due to its qualities and properties, oxygen-freecopper has found application in a variety of products, namely:

• transformer windings are made from it;
• used in the production of coaxial cables;
• used in electronic systems and devices;
• an essential metal in superconductors and linear accelerators;
• she is an important structural element of telecommunications wires and cables intended for operation under water;
• is part of the current transformer wiring.

Oxygen-free copper is also used in vacuum technology. It is indispensable in the design of vacuum distribution systems and semiconductors.

It is widely used in the manufacture of products for the space industry.

Among other areas where oxygen-free copper is used are: radio electronics, microelectronics, radio and instrumentation, nuclear energy, jewelry and construction industries.

Wires and pipes are made from it, designed to work in strong electromagnetic fields. Oxygen-free copper is the basis for the manufacture of electrochemical anodes.

Copper Cathode Applications

Modern cable products made using oxygen-free copper are highly conductive. This makes it possible to carry out high bandwidth electrical signals with smaller wire cross-sections.

However, it is worth noting that oxygen-free copper cables have not been widely used. And all becausewires made of this metal are expensive. To achieve the desired parameters, they use simple copper with a large diameter, preferring not to spend money on expensive oxygen-free copper products.

But there are also areas where high conductivity combined with small wire diameters is preferred. This is necessary to ensure, among other things, an aesthetic appearance. These areas include the production of musical equipment, high-quality headphones, as well as those where you need to get devices that reproduce high-quality professional-level sounds.

When using such copper, its advantages in resisting internal corrosion are noted. Due to this property, oxygen-free copper wires do not lose their characteristics over time. For this reason, cables filled with this metal are used in environments where there is high humidity.