Abstract: A method for the preparation of foam metal with controllable inner diameter belongs to the field of integrated preparation of new structural and functional materials. The main steps are: (1) pretreatment process: cleaning, roughening and activation of the substrate; (2) chemical plating process; (3) preparation of hollow spheres: the sample obtained by chemical plating is placed in a strong alkali solution, the substrate is removed, and hollow metal spheres are obtained; cleaning, filtration, and liquid sealing are preserved; (4) sintering process: the metal nanopowder and hollow metal spheres are laid alternately, dried, evacuated, and protected gas is passed, and the sintering temperature 1200-1600 ℃, annealing time of 2-6 h; the mass ratio of hollow metal balls to metal nanopowder is 5%-30%. This method is used to prepare hollow metal spheres with different inner diameters by controlling the roughing time to obtain substrate particles with different particle sizes. This process has the advantages of simple operation, convenience, economy and controllable inner diameter of spherical shell, which is especially suitable for preparing foam metal materials with different inner diameters or gradient multifunctional materials.