Complexation-mediated surface modification of polyamide-66 textile to enhance electroless copper deposition

A key element for the development of electronic textiles is the formation of conductive tracks and circuits on fibres and textile structures. For achieving a reliable conductive structure during the entire usage lifetime, the modification of the substrate is often indispensable to improve the adhesion between the textile substrate the conductive structure. In this work, we have further developed the complexation mediated surface treatment technique using CaCl2/EtOH/H2O solution (CEW) for the modification of PA66 fibre and fabric which were subsequently coated with copper by currentless deposition. As a result of the treatment, a porous shell layer was formed at the fibre surface. Apart from the topographical change of the fibre/fabric surface, there was no further significant influence on other polymer parameters. Compared to untreated and state-of-the-art plasma modified samples, CEW modification resulted in the highest abrasion resistance as a result of the better migration of metal ions into the thin porous shell structure, allowing stronger anchoring of the metal layer to the substrate. After 10 000 abrasion cycles, 90% copper still remained on CEW modified coated fabric, exhibiting very low resistance. Thus, CEW complexation mediated modification technique is proven to be simple to implement, but efficient to enhance the polymer/metal interface in copper coated PA66 fibre.