Provided are a porous metal body that is excellent in terms of corrosion resistance and that is suitable for a collector for batteries such as lithium-ion batteries, capacitors, or fuel cells; and methods for producing the porous metal body. A production method includes a step of coating a porous nickel body with an alloy containing at least nickel and tungsten or a metal containing at least tin; and a subsequent step of a heat treatment. Another production method includes a step of forming a nickel-plated layer on a porous base and then continuously forming an alloy-plated layer containing at least nickel and tungsten or tin, a step of removing the porous base, and a step of reducing metal. Such a method can provide a porous metal body in which tungsten or tin is diffused in a porous nickel body or a nickel-plated layer.

Described in this document is a process for making heat transfer devices such as cold plates. The cold plates can be made by 3-D printing a polymer substrate, applying thermal spraying deposition of metal over the substrate, dissolving the substrate for removal to form an enclosed flow region through for passage of heat transfer fluid. Molten metal droplets can be sprayed onto the substrate having a surface region comprising a water-soluble thermoplastic to form metal splats on the surface region at a splat temperature and surface properties such that the metal splats penetrate and interlock to form a solid metal coating adhered to the polymer substrate. A dissolvable substrate can facilitate removal by contacting with a solvent to form the enclosed flow region defined by metallic surfaces, and also can enable complex geometries and enhanced heat transfer performance without the need for extensive machining.

Composite foams are provided including a metal template and a conformal atomic-scale film disposed over such metal template to form a 3-dimensional interconnected structure. The metal template includes a plurality of sintered interconnects, having a plurality of first non-spherical pores, a first non-spherical porosity, and a first surface-area-to-volume ratio. The conformal atomic-scale film has a plurality of second non-spherical pores, a second non-spherical porosity, and a second surface-area-to-volume ratio approximately equal to the first surface-area-to-volume ratio. The plurality of sintered interconnects has a plurality of dendritic particles and the conformal atomic-scale film includes at least one of a layer of graphene and a layer of hexagonal boron nitride.

Composite foams are provided including a metal template and a conformal atomic-scale film disposed over such metal template to form a 3-dimensional interconnected structure. The metal template includes a plurality of sintered interconnects, having a plurality of first non-spherical pores, a first non-spherical porosity, and a first surface-area-to-volume ratio. The conformal atomic-scale film has a plurality of second non-spherical pores, a second non-spherical porosity, and a second surface-area-to-volume ratio approximately equal to the first surface-area-to-volume ratio. The plurality of sintered interconnects has a plurality of dendritic particles and the conformal atomic-scale film includes at least one of a layer of graphene and a layer of hexagonal boron nitride.

The present invention relates to methods for producing coated metal bodies by applying a metal powder composition to a metal body, such that a coated metal body is obtained, the coating of which contains one or more wax components; heating the coated metal body to the melting temperature of at least one of the wax components and subsequent cooling to room temperature, such that a coated metal body is obtained; and thermally treating the coated metal body in order to achieve alloy formation between metal portions of metal body and metal powder composition, wherein the metal body comprises nickel, cobalt, copper and/or iron and the metal powder composition comprises a metal component in powder form, which contains aluminium, silicon or magnesium in elemental or alloyed form. By melting and cooling the wax, the method makes metal bodies having a more uniform alloy coverage accessible. The invention furthermore relates to methods wherein the metal body is subsequently treated with a basic solution. The present invention additionally comprises the metal bodies obtainable by the method according to the invention, which find application as load-bearing and structural components, for example, and in catalyst converter technology.