Copper, also known as red copper, has good electrical and thermal conductivity, excellent plasticity, easy hot pressing and cold pressure processing, a large number of used in the manufacture of wire, cable, brush, EDM special corrosion of electrical corrosion of copper and other products requiring good electrical conductivity.

Copper is named for its purplish red color. It is not necessarily pure copper, and sometimes a small amount of deoxidation elements or other elements are added to improve the material and performance, so it is also classified as copper alloy. Chinese copper processing materials can be divided into four categories according to composition: ordinary copper (T1, T2, T3), oxygen-free copper (TU1, TU2 and high-purity, vacuum oxygen-free copper), deoxidized copper (TUP, TUMn), and special copper with a small amount of alloying elements (arsenic copper, tellurium copper, silver copper). The electrical and thermal conductivity of copper is second only to silver, and it is widely used in the production of conductive and thermal equipment. Copper has good corrosion resistance in atmosphere, seawater and some non-oxidizing acids (hydrochloric acid, dilute sulfuric acid), alkali, salt solution and a variety of organic acids (acetic acid, citric acid).

Commonly used copper alloys are divided into three categories: brass, bronze and white copper.