Tough bonding of metallic layers to hydrocarbon surfaces by depositing Ag films

Metallization of polymer materials is a crucial process in the manufacturing of decorative, wear-resistant and electromagnetic shielding coatings in the automotive, electronics and instrumentation industry. The core critical issues of the plastic plating process are cost-consumption by involving Pd activation and the interfacial bonding between metal layers and hydrocarbon surfaces. In this paper, metallization on hydrocarbon surfaces was achieved by depositing Ag films instead of palladium activation. The plating process was optimized and the Ag films' components and topography were studied by XRD and SEM, respectively. The common Cu plating process was carried out on Ag-coated ABS and a typical Cu layer formed with a thickness of 21.2 mu m. From results of a scotch tape test and simple 90 degrees peel test, the metal films are adhesive to plastic substrates. This proposed efficient Ag plating with enough adhesion holds promise to reduce both capital and operational costs of plastic surface metallization.