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Electroless copper plating




Q. I need to electroless plate copper onto conducting polymer films (e.g., polyaniline). Must a seed layer be coated on the polymer film prior to the subsequent electroless plating? Can I use the "dipping in palladium chloride and/or tin chloride solution" to prepare the seed layer? What are the details of this method? (concentrations of palladium chloride and tin chloride, and dipping times, etc.)

Thanks,

W.Lu
- Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
2003


A. Hi Lu. Yes, you must deposit a seed layer, and before that you probably need an etch. But the thing is that neither the electroplating industry not the pharmaceutical industry usually works that way anymore (each plater and every pharmacist mixing their own chemistry).

Rather, these electroless plating chemistries and sequences are all fully developed but proprietary. In other words, although you could do a literature search in the journals from the early 1950's and find out what the researchers did in those days, alternately you could decide to not throw away a half century or more of progress and just buy a proprietary process from Macdermid, Enthone-OMI, Atotech or other plating process suppliers.

Best of luck.

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2003




Multiple threads were merged: please forgive repetition, chronology errors, or disrespect towards other postings [they weren't on the same page] :-)



Q. I am a fourth year student at Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland and I have recently started a project on 'the electroless plating of silicon carbide with copper'. I am finding it hard to get information on the process and would greatly appreciate any advice that anyone could give me. I am looking at getting 100% deposition in the most efficient way. I am coating powdered SiC.

Andrew Hepburn
Napier University - Scotland
1999


A. Hi, Andrew. Something that university researchers may not necessarily have been taught is that plating processes are well developed and are sold as proprietaries. Unless you're doing research on improved processes, you don't need to spend years of your own time trying to formulate a workable electroless copper bath from raw chemicals -- you just buy it from a plating process supplier. They will give you a technical data sheet for its operation and control, titration procedures for the basic ingredients, and will analyze it for the more complex trade secret organics for you. Good luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
February 26, 2009




Q. I am developing an electroless copper plating procedure and have found that I need to add a brightener to my bath. However, available chemicals are simply labeled 'brightener' and I wish to purchase specific chemicals to use as brighteners instead of purchasing a mystery product. What chemicals can I use to brighten the copper as it is electrolessly plated?

Kate Goodwin
- Fall River, Massachusetts
2005


"Electroless Plating"
by Mallory & Hajdu

on AbeBooks

or eBay or

Amazon

(affil links)

A. Read letter 31692 for comments on a similar theme.

Guillermo Marrufo
Monterrey, NL, Mexico
2005


A. Is your time so cheap that you can spend lots of time developing a electroless copper bath vs. buying a commercial product that has technical service support. Virtually no home brew will work as well as currently available commercial products. Who do you call when your system fails?

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
2005




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