Fabrication of conductive copper-coated glass fibers through electroless plating process

Abstract

A simple electroless copper plating process was employed to prepare copper-coated glass fibers with excellent conductivity. The glass fibers were pretreated by etching, sensitizing, and activating procedures. Disodium ethylenediamine tetra acetate (EDTA-2Na) and hydrazine hydrate (N2H4·H2O) were employed as complex reagent and reductant, respectively. It was found that the copper deposition was greatly influenced by dosage of EDTA-2Na, concentration of sodium hydroxide (NaOH), temperature, and volume of N2H4·H2O. The optimal temperature for electroless copper plating ranged from 40 to 60 °C. The composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy techniques. The result showed that the minimum volume resistivity of 0.0010 Ω cm was obtained for the sample with perfect copper coatings on the surface of glass fibers. This method is simple, low-cost, and large production, and can be extended to fabricate other metal-coated glass fibers with distinct conductivity.