Additive manufacturing
FCP-AM absorbs about twice as much 1070 nm laser light as gas-atomised powder, for LPBF and DED on standard infrared machines.
FlexCycle Solutions
From Scrap to Powder.
From Waste to Value.
FlexCycle Solutions turns thin-walled copper residues from battery cell production into high-performance powder. Our patented process is purely mechanical — no melting, no inert gas — and sorts the powder into six grades by particle size.
>97%less energy than gas atomisation
<100 °Cprocess temperature
~2×laser absorption at 1070 nm
>99.9%copper purity
The process
Mechanical conversion, not melt atomisation.
Conventional copper powder is made by melting primary or secondary copper and then atomising it with gas or water — an energy-intensive route. FlexCycle takes thin-walled metallic residues already close to the right form factor and refines them mechanically into powder.
Conventional atomisation
- Starts from primary or secondary copper
- Melts the metal at ~1085 °C and atomises it, usually under inert gas
- 9,000 kWh and more per tonne for gas atomisation
- Smooth, glossy particles reflect infrared lasers
FlexCycle mechanical conversion
- Starts from thin-walled copper residues from battery cell production
- No melting — mechanical comminution and classification below 100 °C
- Around 650 kWh per tonne, no inert gas
- Rough, spheroidal particles absorb laser light and interlock under pressure
Energy demand
650 kWh per tonne. Melt routes need many times more.
Nothing is melted and no inert gas is needed, so the mechanical route uses a fraction of the energy of established powder production.
FlexCycle mechanical process
~650
Water atomisation
2,000–2,500
Electrolytic powder
~4,000
Gas atomisation (literature range)
9,000–166,000
Free-fall hot-gas atomisation (N₂)
~25,000
Lighter segments show a range. The gas-atomisation range continues far beyond the chart. Sources: Ehmsen et al., J. Manuf. Syst. 82 (2025); Cebula et al., Sustain. Mater. Technol. 33 (2022).
Where FlexCycle powder goes to work
Press & sinter
Rough particles interlock for high green strength, from plain bearings to structural parts.
Cold spray
Copper coatings, for example on aluminium busbars for e-mobility. A rough particle surface can improve adhesion.
Power electronics
Fine fractions as a starting material for copper-based sinter pastes, in development with users.
Application examples
First parts built from our powder.