Copper foil in English is electrodepositedcopperfoil, which is an important material in the manufacturing of copper clad laminates (CCL) and printed circuit boards (PCB). In today's rapid development of the electronic information industry, electrolytic copper foil is called: the "neural network" for signal and power transmission and communication of electronic products. Since 2002, China's printed circuit board production value has ranked third in the world, and copper-clad laminate, the substrate material of PCB, has also become the third largest producer in the world. As a result, China's electrolytic copper foil industry has developed rapidly in recent years. In order to understand and understand the past, present, and future development of the electrolytic copper foil industry in the world and China, experts from the China Epoxy Resin Industry Association specially reviewed its development.
From the perspective of the production structure and market development changes of the electrolytic copper foil industry, its development process can be divided into three major development periods: the creation of the original world copper foil enterprise in the United States and the electrolytic copper foil industry The starting period; the period when Japanese copper foil companies fully monopolized the world market; the period when the world is competing for the market in a multi-polar world.
The United States created the first world copper foil enterprise and the period when the electrolytic copper foil industry started (1955 to 1970s). In 1922, Edison of the United States invented the patent for the continuous manufacturing of thin metal nickel foil. Became the pioneer of modern electrolytic copper foil continuous manufacturing technology. According to experts from the China Epoxy Resin Industry Association, the content of this patent is that the electrolyte passes through the lower half of the cathode rotating roller, passes through the semi-circular arc-shaped anode, and forms metal nickel foil through electrolysis. The foil covers the surface of the cathode roller. When the roller rotates out of the liquid surface, the obtained metal nickel foil can be continuously peeled off and rolled up.
In 1937, the Anaconde Copper Company of PerthAmboy, New Jersey, USA, used the above-mentioned Edison patented principles and processes to successfully develop industrially produced electroplated copper foil products. They use insoluble anodes to produce electrolytic copper foil through a continuous method of "acid-generating electrolysis" and "dissolving copper and precipitating copper" to achieve copper ion balance. The creation of this method was more convenient than the calendering method to produce copper foil. Therefore, it was widely used as building materials at that time for moisture-proofing and decoration in buildings. In 1955, Engineer Yates, who had developed and designed electrolytic copper foil equipment at Anaconda Company, and Dr. Adler separated from the company and independently established Circuitfoil Company (referred to as CFC, later known as Yates Company). Yates Company later established factories to produce electrolytic copper foil in New Jersey, California and the United Kingdom. In 1957, Clevite and Gould were spun off from Anaconda. They also started producing electrolytic copper foil for printed circuit boards. Later, Gould Company established electrolytic copper foil factories in Germany (then West Germany), Hong Kong, Ohio, Arizona, and the United Kingdom to supply the production of copper-clad laminates and PCBs. In the late 1950s, Gould Company had become the world's largest electrolytic copper foil manufacturer.
In 1958, Japan's Hitachi Chemical Industry Company and Sumitomo Bakelite Company (both companies are major CCL manufacturers in Japan) jointly established the Nippon Electrolytic Company. Later, Japan's Fukuda Metal Foil Industrial Company (referred to as Fukuda Company), Furukawa Electric Industrial Company (referred to as Furukawa Electric Company), and Mitsui Metal Mining Company (referred to as Mitsui Company) successively established electrolytic copper foil production plants. Established Japan's electrolytic copper foil industry for PCB. At that time, various copper foil factories in Japan used the intermittent electrolysis method: electroforming technology, cyanide copper plating bath, polar rollers made of stainless steel, and electrolytic copper as the soluble positive. This less efficient production method can produce several thousand meters of thin copper sheets across Japan every month. In the 1960s, PCBs had gradually become popular in various fields of the electronics industry, and the demand for copper foil increased rapidly. According to experts from the China Epoxy Resin Industry Association, in 1968 Mitsui introduced the technology of continuous electrolytic manufacturing of copper foil from the American Anaconda Company for the first time, and produced this electrolytic copper foil at its factory in Kamio Town, Saitama Prefecture.
Furukawa also introduced copper foil production technology from the American CFC Company. The copper foil production plant established by Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, was completed in 1972.
In addition, Nippon Electrolytic Company and Fukuda used their independently developed continuous electrolytic copper foil technology and copper foil surface treatment technology to establish themselves in the 1970s and began the production of industrial electrolytic copper foil. Several major Japanese copper foil factories made rapid progress in technology and production in the early 1970s.
Early 1960s. China's Benxi Alloy Factory (and now Benxi Copper Foil Factory), Northwest Copper Processing Factory (now Baiyin Huaxia Electronic Materials Co., Ltd.), and Shanghai Smelter (now Shanghai Jinbao Copper Foil Co., Ltd.) rely on self-developed technology, creating the electrolytic copper foil industry for PCB in China. In the early 1970s, large-scale continuous production of foil products was possible. At that time, copper foil roughening technology mainly relied on several domestic copper-clad laminate manufacturers. In the late 1960s, Beijing Insulation Materials Factory first successfully developed the "anodizing" roughening treatment method. After the roughening treatment was realized on the rolled copper foil, it was also realized on the electrolytic copper foil. In the early 1980s, the copper foil industry in mainland China realized the cathodic surface roughening treatment technology of electrolytic copper foil.