copper is cheaper than gold or silver, works good enough, and is easy to mask and etch with reasonably safe chemicals.
Copper clad refers to a material or surface that has a layer of copper adhered to it. This is commonly used in the construction of printed circuit boards (PCBs) where a thin layer of copper is bonded to a non-conductive substrate like fiberglass to create the electrical pathways on the board.
PCB's stands for Polychlorinated Biphenyl. PCBs belong to a broad family of man-made organic chemicals known as chlorinated hydrocarbons. They have a range of toxicity.
Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are the boards that are used as the base in most electronics – both as a physical support piece and as the wiring area for the surface-mounted and socketed components. PCBs are most commonly made out of fiberglass, composite epoxy, or another composite material.Most PCBs for simple electronics are simple and composed of only a single layer. More sophisticated hardware such as computer graphics cards or motherboards can have multiple layers, sometimes up to twelve.There are several overall types of PCB boards each with their own particular manufacturing specifications, material types, and usages: Single-layer PCBs, Double-layer PCBs, Multi-layer PCBs, Rigid PCBs, Flexible PCBs, Rigid-Flex PCBs, High-frequency PCBs, Aluminum-backed PCBs.
using copper and bronze
There is no information about when flexible printed circuit boards (PCB) apply the rule of change, however, flexible PCBs are made with identical materials as rigid PCBs but made with photolithographic technology. They are used for their flexibility, space saving and at times where production constraints limit the availability of rigid PCBs.
In 1982, the U.S. stopped using bronze blanks and started using zinc coated with a thin copper plating.
PCBs stand for polychlorinated biphenyls, which are a group of man-made chemicals that were used in various industrial applications such as insulating fluids and in sealants. PCBs are now banned in many countries due to their toxic effects on human health and the environment.
Products made using copper.
PCBs, or polychlorinated bis-phenols, are believed to disrupt normal endocrine function. This is thought to occur because PCBs mimic sex hormones in the body.
Two common chemicals used in making PCBs are copper chloride and ferric chloride. Copper chloride is used in the etching process to remove excess copper from the board, while ferric chloride is used as an etchant to dissolve unwanted copper from the board.
The penny is made out of copper.
Sulfuric acid is commonly used to make copper sulfate through a reaction with copper oxide.