Antibacterial austenitic stainless steel containing copper is emerging as an interesting biomaterial. To study the evolution of oxide scale of copper-containing austenitic stainless steel and the influence of copper on the oxidation behavior of austenitic stainless steel, a series of experiments was carried out in this paper. Samples of 304L steel and 4.35%Cu-304L steel were heated to high temperature (600-1250 °C/30-120 min) and hot rolled at different pre-rolling temperatures. The evolution of microstructure and composition of the oxide scale were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction. It was found that the thickness of the 4.35%Cu-304L scale was reduced compared to the thickness of the 304L scale after heating and rolling, which demonstrated that copper increased the oxidation resistance of austenitic stainless steel. However, mixed oxides containing Cu spinel were present in the oxide layer. Therefore, the copper forms oxides during high-temperature oxidation, which cause further cracking during the rolling process. These results will provide basic guidance for the optimal design of production process for antibacterial austenitic stainless steel.

含铜的抗菌奥氏体不锈钢正在作为一种有趣的生物材料出现。为了研究含铜奥氏体不锈钢的氧化皮的演变以及铜对奥氏体不锈钢氧化行为的影响，本文进行了一系列实验。将304L钢和4.35％Cu-304L钢的样品加热至高温（600-1250°C / 30-120分钟），并在不同的预轧温度下进行热轧。通过扫描电子显微镜，能谱和X射线衍射分析了氧化皮的微观结构和组成的演变。发现与加热和轧制后的304L氧化皮的厚度相比，4.35％Cu-304L氧化皮的厚度减小了，这表明铜提高了奥氏体不锈钢的抗氧化性。然而，在氧化物层中存在含有Cu尖晶石的混合氧化物。因此，铜在高温氧化过程中形成氧化物，在轧制过程中会导致进一步开裂。这些结果将为抗菌奥氏体不锈钢生产工艺的优化设计提供基本指导。