Preparation and properties of copper-silver complex plating on PET fabrics

This paper proposes a facile way to fabricate PET fabrics with electromagnetic shielding effect and conductive properties through preparing autocatalytic carboxylic styrene butadiene latex film with catalyst PdCl2, and followed with copper electroless plating and silver electroplating. The influence of operating parameters on copper and silver complex plating was investigated. The copper-silver layer was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). The rate of weight gain, deposition rate and layer adhesion strength were also analyzed. The results indicated that copper-silver complex layer formed on PET surface was imparted with good electrical conductivity, fine uniformity and high compactness.