Reinforced porous metal foil and process for production thereof

1. A reinforced porous metal foil comprising:

a porous portion comprising a two-dimensional network structure composed of a metal fiber, wherein the metal fiber is a branched fiber, and wherein the branched fiber is irregularly networked; and

a reinforced portion which is substantially non-porous or less porous than the porous portion, the reinforced portion being composed of the same metal as the metal fiber and being continuous and integral with the porous portion;

wherein the reinforced portion is one of (a) provided as at least a part of an outer edge of the metal foil, (b) provided as outer edges along a longitudinal direction of the metal foil when the metal foil has an elongate shape, and (c) provided away from and in parallel with outer edges along a longitudinal direction of the metal foil when the metal foil has an elongate shape;

wherein the porous portion has an aperture ratio P of 3 to 60%, and wherein the aperture ratio P is defined as:

P= 100−[( W p /W n )×100]

wherein W p /W n is a ratio of a weight W p of the porous portion to a theoretical weight W n of a non-porous metal foil having a composition and a size which are identical to those of the porous portion; and

wherein the porous metal foil has a thickness of 3 to 40 μm.

2. The porous metal foil according to claim 1 , wherein the reinforced portion is substantially non-porous.

3. The porous metal foil according to claim 1 , wherein the metal fiber has a fiber diameter of 5 to 80 μm.

4. The porous metal foil according to claim 1 , wherein the metal fiber is composed of numerous metal particles being connected to each other.

5. The porous metal foil according to claim 4 , wherein the metal particles have hemispherical shapes having spherical parts and bottom parts, wherein the bottom parts of all the metal particles are positioned on a same basal plane, wherein the spherical parts of all the metal particles are positioned to a same side with reference to the basal plane.

6. The porous metal foil according to claim 1 , wherein the two-dimensional network structure has an irregular shape derived from a crack, wherein the crack has been formed on a surface of a substrate.

7. The porous metal foil according to claim 1 , wherein the metal fiber comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of copper, aluminum, gold, silver, nickel, cobalt, and tin.

8. The porous metal foil according to claim 1 , wherein an average ratio of a maximum cross-sectional height H to a fiber diameter D of the metal fiber is 0.40 to 0.60.

9. A method for producing the reinforced porous metal foil according, to claim 1 , comprising the steps of:

preparing an electrically conductive substrate comprising a peelable layer, on a surface of which a crack is generated;

bringing a contact member into contact with a part of the peelable layer and sliding the contact member thereon; and

plating the peelable layer with a metal capable of depositing on the crack, to grow numerous metal particles along the crack in a region that has not been in contact with the contact member to form the porous portion, and to grow numerous metal particles so as to be denser than the metal particles in the porous portion in a region that has been in contact with the contact member to form the reinforced portion.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the contact member is a water-absorbing material containing water or aqueous liquid.

11. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising the step of peeling off the porous metal foil from the peelable layer.

12. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising the step of drying the peelable layer after the peeling-off step, wherein the dried peelable layer is subjected to the contacting step again.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the electrically conductive substrate provided with the peelable layer is configured in a form of a rotating drum, and wherein the contacting step, the plating step, the peeling-off step, and the drying step are sequentially repeated by rotating the electrically conductive substrate.

14. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the peelable layer is composed of a metal or alloy of at least one selected from the group consisting of chromium and titanium, or an organic material.