Title: Electroless metallisation of ABS plastic: a comparative study

Authors: Azhar Equbal; Nitesh Kumar Dixit; Anoop Kumar Sood

Addresses: Department of Manufacturing Engineering, National Institute of Foundry and Forge Technology, Hatia 834003, Ranchi, India ' Department of Manufacturing Engineering, National Institute of Foundry and Forge Technology, Hatia 834003, Ranchi, India ' Department of Manufacturing Engineering, National Institute of Foundry and Forge Technology, Hatia 834003, Ranchi, India

Abstract: The present work incorporates comparative evaluation between three different routes for metallisation of copper on ABS parts. These routes are aluminium paste (Al paste) coated ABS parts, chromic acid for etching of ABS part and use of H₂SO₄/H₂O₂ for etching ABS parts. The main focus is to find out the best route for metallisation of ABS parts among the three routes employed. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive spectrometer images and electrical performance are used for comparative work. Finally, it was concluded that Al-pasted parts are best suited for metallisation of copper on them.

Keywords: plastics; surface conditioning; conductivity; copper deposition; electroless metallisation; plastic parts; acrylonitrile butadiene styrene; ABS parts; aluminium paste; chromic acid; etching; coatings.

DOI: 10.1504/IJRAPIDM.2015.074806

International Journal of Rapid Manufacturing, 2015 Vol.5 No.3/4, pp.255 - 275

Received: 02 Oct 2015
Accepted: 12 Nov 2015
Published online: 19 Feb 2016 *

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