Preparation of PMMA-Ni core-shell composite particles by electroless plating on polyelectrolyte-modified PMMA beads

Fabrication of Core-Shell Structure of Ni/Au Layer on PMMA Micro-Ball for Flexible Electronics

“…In the case of electroplating, thickness of deposited layer is not uniform because distribution of current density is not uniform dependent upon voltage reaction 18) . However, in the case of electroless-plating, metallic ions are anchored in the solution so that local electrochemical reactions occur near the catalytic sites on the PMMA surface when the metal crystallites were reduced from the ionic state in the aqueous bath with the presence of reducing agent 19) . Accordingly, the uniform thickness of the conductive layers is owing to uniform distribution of catalytic sites on the surface of PMMA.…”

Electroless nickel metallization to prepare SiO2–Ni composite particles via polyelectrolytes route

“…Nonetheless, suitable surface roughening, sensitization, and noble-metal activation are critically important to the success of the plating process, in addition to repeated washing and cleaning required at the end of each process step for successful preparation of the core surface ready for the electroless plating. In view of the literature, electroless metallization of dielectric particle to form core-shell composite of various chemistries has been examined [3,4,[20][21][22][23][24][25]. For the electroless nickel (Ni) plating specifically, Guo et al [28] prepared Ni coated poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) coreshell beads; to which, surface of the PMMA beads was first sensitized in SnCl 2 solution and then activated in PdCl 2 solution with an aim that the core surface with suitable catalytic sites is readily available for the nucleation and growth of Ni nuclie on the bead surface.…”

“…In our earlier report [3], surface of commercial PMMA beads was first modified by the PAH and PAA molecules deliberately via the electrostatic adsorption. The adsorbed polyelectrolytes facilitated preferential deposition and growth of uniform and adhesive Ni shell on the PMMA core when the electroless plating was performed using nickel(II) chloride (NiCl 2 ) as the metal source and dimethylamine borane (DMAB) as the reducing agent.…”

“…Ceramic-metal composite particles featuring specifically core-shell [1][2][3][4], "rattle-in-ball" [5][6][7], and anisotropic Janus [8] structures have received increasing attention over the last decade due mainly to their unique functionalities that are suitable to a wide range of advanced applications [9][10][11][12]. Routes to synthesize the composite particles with tailored hierarchical structures include, for example, preferential surface precipitation, seeded growth, Pickering emulsion, electroless (autocatalytic) plating, sonochemistry, and electrostatic layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly [9,10,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

“…Routes to synthesize the composite particles with tailored hierarchical structures include, for example, preferential surface precipitation, seeded growth, Pickering emulsion, electroless (autocatalytic) plating, sonochemistry, and electrostatic layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly [9,10,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Among them, the electroless plating involves use of chemical reducing agent to facilitate reduction of metallic ions in solution so that metallic nuclei can deposit preferentially on the core surface of various chemical compositions, forming either a uniform metal shell or a raspberry core-shell structure so long as a continuous electron transfer between the reacting species can occur selectively at specific activation sites on the core surface [3,9,10,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. The process is facile with a good throwing power, and is also flexible and cost-effective.…”