ELECTROLESS METAL PLATING OVER ABS PLASTIC

Canan URAZ¹ , TUĞBA GÜRMEN²

Plating is used to decorate objects, for corrosion inhibition, to improve solder ability, to harden, to improve wear ability, to reduce friction, to improve paint adhesion, to alter conductivity and for other purposes. Electroless plating is a fundamental step in the metal plating on the plastic. In this study, the electroless copper plating on Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) was investigated. The effects of the ionic liquids as catalyst, plating time and sanding paper size were investigated on metal plating. Experiments were carried out with two different types of ionic liquids: EMIC and DCA and with 120, 240, 320 and 500 grit sandpaper by applying sand attrition process, and constant bath temperature as 600C with 60-150 minutes of deposition times. Due to the results, the copper plating on ABS plastic was a success. The surface morphology and amount of deposit analysis were performed using the Fischerscope X-Ray XDL-B System, X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Hence, it is determined that the maximum amount of deposit is obtained in the sample which EMIC is used as catalyst with 150 min deposition time and 500 grit sandpaper size.

Keywords
Electroless Plating, ABS Plastic, Copper Plating, Lonic Liquid, X-Ray XDL-B System,