Laser-Induced Selective Metallization on Polymer Substrates Using Organocopper for Portable Electronics

Abstract

Our work proposed a facile strategy for selective fabrication of the precise metalized patterns onto polymer substrates through the laser direct structuring (LDS) technology using organocopper compounds. Copper oxalate (CuC2O4) and copper acetylacetonate [Cu­(acac)2] which can be used as laser sensitizers were first introduced into an acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) matrix for preparing LDS materials. After the activation with 1064 nm pulsed near-infrared laser, the Cu0 (metal copper) was generated from CuC2O4 and Cu­(acac)2 and then served as catalyst species for the electroless copper plating (ECP). A series of characterizations were conducted to investigate the morphology and analyze the surface chemistry of ABS/CuC2O4 and ABS/Cu­(acac)2 composites. Specially, the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis indicated that 58.3% Cu2+ in ABS/CuC2O4 was reduced to Cu0, while this value was 63.9% for ABS/Cu­(acac)2. After 30 min ECP, the conductivities of copper circuit on ABS/CuC2O4 and ABS/Cu­(acac)2 composites were 1.22 × 107 and 1.58 × 107 Ω–1·m–1, respectively. Moreover, the decorated patterns and near-field communication circuit were demonstrated by this LDS technology. We believe that this study paves the way for developing organocopper-based LDS materials, which have the potential for industrial applications.

Laser Synthesis and Microfabrication of Micro/Nanostructured Materials Toward Energy Conversion and Storage

“…However, the heat transfer of the laser-assisted pyrolysis process was usually limited by the gaseous precursor and generally obtained the product with poor phase purity. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) provided ideal contact between carbonaceous and metallic precursors on an atomic scale and preserved efficient photothermal conversion under laser irradiation [ 75 ]. Ogale et al [ 76 ] selected MOFs of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIF-67) as precursors to achieve the metal and heteroatom-doped, porous graphene hybrid electrodes by laser direct writing, which set a precedent for laser carbonization of MOF under ambient for micro-supercapacitor application.…”

Comparative Evaluation of Cu(acac)2 and {[Cu(μ-O,O′-NO3) (L-arg) (2,2′-bpy)]·NO3}n as Potential Precursors of Electroless Metallization of Laser-Activated Polymer Materials

“…In recent years, many methods of selective electroless metallization for non-conductive polymer materials have been developed. Extensive research was aimed especially at designing new coatings containing various electroless metallization precursors, suitable for applications in electronics [1][2][3][4]. Chemical surface activation is used to the greatest extent in industrial practice.…”

“…In recent years, research has been conducted on the application of organometallic complexes that can act as precursors in the metallization processes of polymer products. The information about palladium, copper or nickel acetates, acetylacetonates or copper complexes used as effective precursors of electroless metallization can be found in the literature [1,[12][13][14][15][16][17]. Inorganic metal compounds such as copper, chromium in the form of CuO•Cr2O3 [18] oxide or hydrogen phosphate Cu2(OH)PO4] [19] were also used.…”

Effect of Swelling of Chemical Reagents and the Sulfuric-Chromic Acid Bath on Surface Texturizing of Poly(Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene)

“…Stages of surface preparation for the process such as aluminum paint paste and aluminum epoxy paste have been used for electroless coating varying temperature and deposition time. 18 The electroless process have been combined with other techniques such as Laser Direct Structuring (LDS) 19 or Selective Surface Activation Induced by Laser (SSAIL) 20 using organocopper compounds for portable electronics. This allows obtaining precise metallized patterns with selective fabrication onto ABS finished with electroless copper plating (ECP).…”

“…In the last decade, there have been a very intensive quest for improving the etching treatment for ABS especially for copper and nickel plating. 19,21,22 There are many different alternatives proposed in these studies and all of them with the same target, avoid the use of Cr 6+ in metallization of ABS and other polymers. 22 The studies focused in substituting the sulfuric-chromic acid bath, and among many different procedures, the use of KMnO 4 have been one of the more important points of reference.…”