Copper foam for use in medical device designs, combines the high thermal conductivity of copper with the structural benefits of a metal foam. Offering a true skeletal structure rather than being a sintered, coated, or plated product, the foam has a purity typically equivalent to that of the parent alloy metal, with no voids, inclusions, or entrapments. The matrix of cells and ligaments is repeatable, regular, and uniform throughout the material, yielding a rigid, highly porous, and permeable structure with a controlled metal density. The material has a high strength-to-weight ratio, a high surface area–to-volume ratio, an isotropic load response, and controlled stress-strain characteristics. It can be brazed or coated and plated. Available in standard pore sizes of 5, 10, 20, and 40 pores per inch and densities of 3 to 12%, the foam can be compressed to achieve densities as high as approximately 70% and pores as small as 500 per inch.
 
Goodfellow Corp.
Oakdale, PA