Conventionally, in the electroless plating of resin, surface modification has been necessary to generate carboxylate moieties that enhances palladium catalyst adsorption. To further enhance palladium adsorption, a variety of Pd(II) amino acid complexes were synthesized, which bear a cationic pendant group with affinity for the carboxylate generated on the resin, and performance as an electroless plating catalyst evaluated. The Pd(II) complexes were characterized using UV-vis spectroscopy, revealing chelation of the amine and carboxylate groups of amino acids to Pd(II). For the Pd(II) complexes of Arginine or Lysine, affinity of the cationic pendant groups to resin surface carboxylate groups was suggested by enhanced Pd adsorption, c.a. 80 fold increase compared to complexes without cationic moieties. Furthermore, even under mild surface modification conditions with 0.5 mol/dm 3 KOH, the Pd(II) complexed with Arginine or Lysine displayed performance as a electroless Ni catalyst, allowing for electolytic copper plated laminates of 1 kN/m adhesion strenghth.

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When forming a seed layer on polyimide (PI) lm using electroless nickel plating, the adhesion strength between the layer and the lm was improved by a hydro uoric acid dip at any stage of the plating process prior to the electroless nickel plating. No increase in the roughness nor change in the chemical composition of the PI surface was observed a er the treatment. Furthermore, no change appeared at the boundary of the PI lm and the seed layer. However, peeling of the plated lm exposed a large amount of PI adhering on the seed layer indicating a change in the boundary by the treatment. In addition, Dynamic Mechanical Analysis of the PI lm before and a er the treatment indicated an increase in the storage elastic modulus of the lm. e color tone of the lm was also changed by hydro uoric acid treatment. Based on a theory of elasticity, a change in the mechanical properties of the resin made to adhere to metal has an in uence on peel strength. e authors concluded that the change in the mechanical properties of the PI lm due to the hydro uoric acid treatment improved the peel strength.

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