Please provide details, as the process is known but the nature (which metal salts ?) and the concentrations of the baths to which the (formerly insulating) plastic surface should be submitted before metal plating seem to be hard to find.
Thank you, however I was looking for more details such as typical concentrations and pHs, as well as natures (e.g. counter-ions) of the Sn/Pd salts.
Can any detailed paper be found somewhere ?
Thank you once more.
Alain
Dear Alain,
In general there are three different activation methods for electroless plating of metals. Your description refers to the 2 step activation method. References can be found by searching on the following authors in web of science: Charbonnier M, Zabetakis, Dressick W. nowadays, the one step activation method is more popular, this method uses Pd/Sn colloids. You can by the solutions from rohm and haas or atotech.
In case this answer does not satisfy you, just contact me and I will provide more background or articles
Dear David,
Thank you very much for these very helpful references and comments.
Alain.
Dear Alain,
I must admitt that metal plating of plastics is not quite straightforward! The initial plating is not so difficult. However, depending on the roughness and the chemical surface functional groups, the adhesion of thicker (>500nm) can be achieved. On my profile you can download an article in journal of adhesion science and technology.
Most of the plastics need a surface pre-treatment (oxidation, plasma, corona,...) prior to electroless deposition
In general, to increase the Pd sorption on the surface, introduction of nitrogen containing groups (especially amines) is the best way. Concerning the adhesion towards the plated metals, roughness plays an important role. Especially when a thick layer of metal (electroless followed by electrolytic plating) is needed. I have written three articles on polymer surface treatments, especially on epoxy resins. You can find them in elsevier. References are provided for a full overview of polymer surface pretreatment prior to electroless metallization.
Good luck!
Thank you once more.
In my case, I just need a thin metal coating that should be removed afterwards, so maybe all these details are not so critical. Experiments will decide !
Alain
Hi Alain, for temporary metal coating you can use metal pencil - it is mix of heavy metals. Indium (non-toxic) adheres very good to the preheated plastic - is used for fast application of conductive tracks in the manufacture of prototypes of electronic circuits.
http://www.grand-illusions.com/acatalog/Metal_Pen.html
Interesting and unexpected suggestion, good to know !!
Thank you for it
Alain
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