Electroless Plating On Plastic
Electroless Plating On Plastic
Electroless Plating On Plastic
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 4, Issue 8, August 2013
ISSN 2229-5518
Abstract To compete in the emerging global marketplace industries shows an increasing interest in the development of advanced
material possessing attractive properties. Metalized product made by deposition of metallic layers on products made of plastics and
composite materials is one of the ideal examples in this respect. Since the plastic products are lighter, have low cost and can be moulded
into any shapes in very short time duration by reducing the manufacturing time and cost for complex products. Also if these parts can be
attributed the characteristics of metal by metallization then the final part would brings out the revolutionary change in the market with
increasing demands for it. The paper reviews the various ways of metalizing the plastic parts and the comparison among them.
Index Terms Activation; Coating; Conductivity; Electroplating; Etching; Electroless plating; Metallization.
1 INTRODUCTION
process molten metal is sprayed onto a surface to form a coat- ii) Conditioning or Etching
ing. This is achieved by melting of pure or alloyed metals. The iii) Neutralization
molten metal is then projected towards the surface to be coat- iv) Activation
ed by using blast of compressed air or other suitable mecha- v) Acceleration
nism. The result obtained is a layer of solid metal on the sur- vi) Electroless plating.
face to be treated. The number of layers applied dictates the
thickness of the coating. For example "Spray silvering" is a 2.6 Electroplating
technique in which low adhesion silver layers were applied as This is basically a secondary method of metallization of plas-
undercoats to the surface of plastics. Silver was deposited by tics. This is done with aid of an external current supply. Elec-
the chemical reduction of ammoniacal silver nitrate with a troplating is the deposition of a metal coating onto an object
solution of formaldehyde or hydrazine. Both these solutions by putting a negative charge onto the object to be plated and
were simultaneously sprayed by aerosol so that mixing oc- immersing it into a solution, which contains a salt of the metal
curred on the surface to be plated. The metallic silver coats to be deposited. The metal ions of the salt carry a positive
produced by this method were generally thin, and needed to charge and are attracted to the part. When they reach it, the
be overplated with other metals to increase the coating thick- negatively charged part provides the electrons to reduce the
ness. In addition aluminium, copper and other paints can be positively charged ions to a metallic form. When this method
used for spraying. Alternative dry spray techniques known as is applied for plastic parts, this is used for increasing the
the "Schoop process" or "Flame spraying" have also been used. thickness of coating on parts already metalized by primary
In these techniques, molten metal was sprayed by compressed techniques.
air on to a plastic substrate, with solidification occurring on
2.7 Electroforming
contact with the surface.
Electroforming is a process for producing a metal part by elec-
2.3 Dipping in a metal paint tro deposition in a plating bath over a base form or mandrel,
Applying a conductive paint through dipping the plastic part this is subsequently removed. Build-up is achieved over all
in metal paint is also an alternative method for achieving the mandrel surfaces at an approximate deposition rate of 25m
conductive plastic parts. The conductive metal coating is ap- per hour. Electroforming reproduces the form or mandrel ex-
plied by dipping plastic parts in metal paint and leaving it actly (about 1m), without the shrinkage and distortion asso-
inside the paint for some duration and taking it out and dry- ciated with other metal forming techniques such as casting,
ing the painted part. Thus the layer of metal paint gets depos- stamping or drawing.
ited as thin film on the plastic surface.
2.7 Vapour deposition techniques
2.4 Sputtering The plastic component is first washed and coated with a base
Sputtering is usually carried out in argon plasma. By biasing coat, so that the metal layer is smooth and uniform. Next a
the target (source of metal) negatively, argon (Ar) ions are at- metal is evaporated in a vacuum chamber. The vapour then
tracted to the target. The momentum of the Ar ions is trans- condenses onto the surface of the substrate leaving a thin layer
ferred to the target resulting in the ejection of one or more at- of metal coating. The entire process takes place within a vacu-
oms from the surface of the target. The sputtered atoms, most- um chamber to prevent oxidation. Depending on the compo-
ly neutral, fly into the plasma and land on the wafer. The an- nents application a top coat may be applied after deposition
gular distribution of the sputtered particles follows the cosine to increase properties as abrasion resistance etc. Metalized
law. Therefore, like evaporation, sputter deposition occurs plastic components that receive their coats via this process are
essentially along a line-of-sight path with a cosine distribution. found in a range of applications, from automotive interior
Poor step coverage can result if the surface topography of the parts to certain types of foils. This deposition process can be
wafer is abrupt. The uniformity of the deposited film can be either physical vapor deposition (PVD) or chemical vapor
improved by raising the substrate temperature, using a larger deposition (CVD). The most common forms of physical vapor
target, or inserting a collimator between the sputtering cath- deposition (PVD) are evaporation, e-beam evaporation, plas-
ode and the wafer. ma spray deposition etc. PVD is used due to the following
reasons:
2.5 Electroless plating i) The ability to deposit high-temperature and refracto-
It is the most common and widely used method for achieving ry metals.
the plating on plastic surfaces without any electrical assistance ii) The high deposition rate afforded by modern cathode
in the process. In electroless plating, the plastic part prior to and target design.
plating is first subjected to surface preparation and then it is iii) The capability to deposit and maintain complex alloy
dipped into aqueous solutions containing metal ions. The compositions.
chemical reactions occur between activated surface and solu- iv) The capability to maintain well-controlled, uniform
tion which cause the metal ion to move the plastic substrate deposition on large (200 mm and larger) wafers.
and deposited over it to form a thin layer of metallic film. The
electroless plating process consisted of various steps for Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on the other hand also of-
achieving the plastic metallization which are: fers several advantages as:
i) Brushing i) Excellent step coverage.
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 4, Issue 8, August-2013
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ii) Large throughput. low the surfactant to remain on etched surface throughout the
iii) Low-temperature processing. rest of the process and act as interference to etching, activa-
tion, and ultimately the resulting metallic bond. Thus the
etched surface serves a number of purposes which includes
3 RESEARCH TREND An increase in the surface area thereby providing
The most common and widely used method in current time more opportunity for intimate contact between metal-
for metallization of plastic is Electroless plating. In electroless lic layers.
plating, metal ions in aqueous solutions are deposited on the A properly etched surface will provide anchoring
activated plastic surface by oxi-reduction reactions without sites for the activator material, which can mechanical-
the aid of an external electrical supply. This helps in formation ly bond to the metallic surfaces.
of a thin metallic layer on the plastic surface. This electroless Some residual surface contamination remaining also
deposited film serves two important functions: (a) It provides got remove in the etching, if the contamination was
an electrically conductive substrate that allows further coating not totally removed in the soak cleaner. This is be-
by electroplating or other and (b) It provides a secure bond cause the residual contaminant does not allow the
between the plastic substrate and the electroplated layer [1, 4]. etchant to start working on the underlying layer at the
But before carrying out the plating, preparation or cleaning of same time it starts to work on uncontaminated areas.
plastic surface is essential for getting the proper plating on (iii) Neutralization This stage is responsible for removing the
plastics. remaining amount of oxidant with a reducing agent as meta-
The electroless plating process consisted of the following bi-sulphite or ferrous ions to prevent its inhibition of the cata-
steps: lyst because even trace may completely inhibit electroless
i) Cleaning deposition of metallic layer on plastic surface.
ii) Conditioning or Etching (iv) Activation In this stage, the conditioned surface is con-
iii) Neutralization tacted with an activator or catalysts usually colloidal suspen-
iv) Activation sion of palladium/tin (Pd/Sn) catalyst powder. The catalyst
v) Acceleration particles get deposited in the surface micro-cavities formed
vi) Electroless plating during conditioning for subsequent initiation of the autocata-
(i) Cleaning This process is used for cleaning the plastic sur- lytic electroless metal plating process. Also depending on sur-
face either by brushing or scouring with sand paper to remove face, activation stage is generally carried out at 45 C for 3
oil, dirt, grease etc. and also to develop micro-roughness for minutes. Since activator is a layer of material between the me-
increasing surface area. The cleaner is typically alkaline in na- tallic layer and the subsequent electroless deposition, it can
ture, although neutral or acidic materials can also be used. prevent intimate metal to metal contact and interfere with ad-
Important factors to be considered about the cleaning solution hesion. It is desirable not to put too much activator on the
are: proper cleaner choice to do the job, temperature of clean- work being processed and to avoid too long immersion time.
er, concentration of cleaner, time in the cleaner, work agitation Improper activation will probably cause poor metallic bond-
in the cleaner, cleanliness of the cleaner to dump and rinsing ing, activator consumption, and hence cost will increase.
after cleaning. Temperature is a key factor that is often over- (v) Acceleration - In this stage, the absorbed catalyst particles
looked in cleaner operation. Most cleaners have a lower limit are activated to increase its activity. The accelerator may be an
of temperature operation below which they rapidly lose effec- acid or basic solution which dissolves excess of activator and
tiveness. removes it from the surface to interfere the absorbed catalytic
(ii) Conditioning or Etching This is the most important stage action. The activated surface was washed and immersed in an
in plating process as it is fully responsible for achieving suita- acceleration bath normally at 30 C for 3 min.
ble conditions for good metalplastic bonding. The parent sur- (vi) Electroless Deposition In the deposition stage the acti-
face is chemically etched resulting in the development of pores vated plastic went through the solution usually containing of
which can substantially increase the surface area of plating metal salts and hypophosphite as the reducing agent, in either
surface. In addition, it is also believed that hydrophilic sites basic or acid medium. An electroless plating layer is formed
which can readily absorb the etchant also developed on the by a redox reaction on the activated surface [5]. The tempera-
surface. This stage consists of the immersion of the plastic tures of bath are normally in range of 4565 C. The tempera-
sheets in an oxidant solution. The oxidant solutions used can ture and deposition time are important in this stage for achiev-
be either chromic acid in aqueous sulphuric acid or hydroflu- ing the metallic deposition. A typical electroless bath formula-
oric acid with sulphuric acid or other depending on the sur- tions will contain metal salts, reducing agent (formaldehyde),
face to be plated. Optimum conditioning time depends on the alkaline hydroxide, chelating agents (quadrol, EDTA, Rochelle
initial surface properties, which in turn are dependent on salts, etc.), Stabilizers, brighteners. The formaldehyde and
composition and injection conditions used in production of the hydroxide ions provide the reducing force necessary
plastic parts. Depending on the surface the etching is carried for the deposition of metallic ions. The deposition reaction
out normally for 515 minutes, in a bath with temperature in must be initiated by a catalytic species on the surface of the
the range of 6065C. Conditioning materials contain surfac- work to be plated.
tants to do the job intended. Finally after the process the part
is cautiously rinsed with water as insufficient rinsing can al-
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 4, Issue 8, August-2013
ISSN 2229-5518
Acknowledgment
The authors are grateful to National institute of Foundry and
forge technology, India for providing the facilities for carrying
work.
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