PREPARATION AND PROPERTIES OF SiO2/Ag MICROBEADS USING ELECTROLESS PLATING METHOD

SiO2/Ag microbeads were synthesized using the electroless plating method by changing the addition order and the mixed method of electroless plating. Conducting composites were prepared using the prepared SiO2/Ag microbeads and unsaturated polyester resin as the fillers and substrate, respectively. The microstructure and properties of the prepared microbeads and com-posite were characterized with a scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), energy dispersive spec-trometer (EDS), particle size analyzer, DC milliohm meter and vector network analysis tester. Results show that the SiO2/Ag microbeads prepared with the reverse dropping electroless plating method achieved the best uniformity and integrity of the sil-ver coating on the surfaces of glass beads, and its compaction resistance reached 138.80 macm. When the ratio of the prepared SiO2/Ag microbeads and unsaturated polyester resin was 1:2, the obtained coating composite had a resistivity of 2.79 x 10-5 acm, showing good electromagnetic shielding performance.