Research progress, potentials, and challenges of copper composite for metal injection moulding feedstock

Copper has been widely used as a matrix for fabricating MMCs. In the last 10 years, reinforcement materials such as metal and carbon-based materials (CNT, graphene, diamond) have produced superior thermal and mechanical properties compared to pure Cu. MIM is a manufacturing technology for assembling components with complex geometric shapes. Based on the high level of MIM complexity, this method is ideally applied as an electronic component manufacturing method. Copper composite can be modified as feedstock for the MIM process to produce MIM products with high thermal conductivity and good electrical properties. However, there are several challenges in the fabrication process of modifying copper feedstock, such as differences in thermal properties between metal reinforcement (W and Mo) and the formation of agglomeration in carbon-based copper composites. This article review will discuss the potentials and challenges of each modifying feedstock and the parameters of the MIM-Cu process and fabrication technology for each MIM-Cu feedstock being developed.