Electroless plating is a well-established process to deposit metal film on top of plastics or other insulating materials. The present process requires surface treatment with chromic acid, demanding waste water treatment. We established a new process replacing a chromic acid treatment with a Nd:YAG laser treatment of ABS surfaces. The metal films deposited have good adhesion. The best quality films were obtained with the laser surface treatment exposed in an aqueous alkaline solution. the surface change by the Nd:YAG laser irradiation has been studied with scanning electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, micro-Raman and reflected FT-IR spectroscopy. Contact angle measurements are used to study enhanced hydrophilicity due to the laser exposure. The change of chemical nature...[ Read more ]

Electroless plating is a well-established process to deposit metal film on top of plastics or other insulating materials. The present process requires surface treatment with chromic acid, demanding waste water treatment. We established a new process replacing a chromic acid treatment with a Nd:YAG laser treatment of ABS surfaces. The metal films deposited have good adhesion. The best quality films were obtained with the laser surface treatment exposed in an aqueous alkaline solution. the surface change by the Nd:YAG laser irradiation has been studied with scanning electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, micro-Raman and reflected FT-IR spectroscopy. Contact angle measurements are used to study enhanced hydrophilicity due to the laser exposure. The change of chemical nature certainly took place on the surfaces while keeping the bulk property inside remain the same, thus assuring the good overall property of the bulk polymers they have. Thickness of copper layer deposited, metal surface conductivity and adhesive force at the metal/ABS interface were measured and discussed in terms of surface roughness, chemical nature of the surface and others.