While conventional stainless steel excels in corrosion resistance due to its "passive film," this same film typically acts as an electrical insulator. Consequently, components requiring conductivity have traditionally relied on high-cost nickel (Ni) plating or conductive tapes. L-Core solves this challenge by making the passive film itself conductive. This breakthrough ensures high conductivity in the material alone, streamlining the manufacturing process and achieving significant cost reductions alongside a lower environmental footprint.

Nippon Kinzoku Promotes L-Core As Eco Stainless Steel Product

KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 (Bernama) -- Nippon Kinzoku Co Ltd has announced the strengthened promotion of "L-Core", a functional stainless steel, repositioning it as an "Eco-Product" to support sustainable manufacturing.

According to the company in a statement, L-Core utilises proprietary surface modification technology to achieve extremely low contact resistance while maintaining the inherent corrosion resistance of stainless steel.

By integrating high-performance characteristics directly into the base material, the product enables customers to eliminate redundant processing steps and improve material yields, thereby reducing environmental impact across the supply chain and supporting progress toward a carbon-neutral society.

The product’s technical features include the formation of "carrier-doped" regions within the passive film, which function as conductive pathways for electricity. The film is modified without being destroyed, preserving the corrosion resistance inherent to stainless steel, while enabling its use in conductive components without additional processing such as plating.

In addition, L-Core demonstrates low contact resistance comparable to semi-bright nickel (Ni) plating, with high reliability showing almost no performance degradation after 2,700 hours in a high-temperature, high-humidity environment.

The product is suitable for applications including smartphone chassis, flexible printed circuits (FPC), electrical connectors, and display bezels such as LCDs and offers advantages in both cost reduction and quality compared to nickel-plated stainless steel.

-- BERNAMA