Activator For Electroless Deposition Research Articles

A new strategy to activate liquid crystal polymer samples for electroless copper deposition

ABSTRACTIn order to activate the polymers for electroless copper deposition, an alternative way of sample preparation is demonstrated. The samples are prepared by incorporation of a small amount (<1 wt %) of palladium, nickel, or copper acetate into the molten Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) in a blender. Since the blending temperature is kept higher than the decomposition temperature of acetates, the acetates are thermally decomposed during blending, leading to the metallic Pd, Ni, or Cu which are used as activators for electroless deposition. After preparing the samples, electroless copper deposition is successfully realized. The influence of different acetates (Pd, Ni, or Cu acetates) on the deposition is investigated. The copper amount is higher and the deposition kinetics is faster on LCP samples with 0.15 wt % Pd and 0.4 wt % Ni than that with 0.4 wt % Cu. The deposited copper layers are uniform and oxide‐free. Moreover, the possibility to substitute expensive Pd activator by cheaper Ni or Cu is shown. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 44397.

Activator for Electrolessly Depositing Copper from Triangular Ag∕Pd Nanoshells

This article reports that triangular nanoshells are synthesized via the galvanic displacement reaction and further applied as activators for electroless copper deposition. Information as revealed by electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance, deposition rate catalyzed by the triangular nanoshells is and exhibit different electrochemical activity in the electroless deposition of copper.

The Role of Poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrollidone) in Ag ∕ Pd Nanoparticles Formation and Its Application to Electroless Deposition

Poly(-vinyl-2-pyrrollidone) (PVP) has been widely used as a stabilizer to synthesize various kinds of nanoparticles. However, the effect of PVP and its role in the formation process of nanoparticles are not well understood. In our PVP-protected nanoparticles system, ions have higher priority to be reduced in the formation process of nanoparticles. The presence of PVP hinders both and ions. However, the steric obstacle effect of PVP is more pronounced for ions and thus ions are more difficult to diffuse through the polymeric barrier in the particle growth stage. Accordingly, ions deposit onto the preformed nuclei later than ions rendering the palladium-rich surface structure of nanoparticles. Moreover, the steric barrier of PVP is less effective with increasing molecular weight, possibly owing to the decreasing molecular numbers. The feasibility of nanoparticles as activators for electroless copper deposition was also carried out. The crystalline structure of electroless Cu film was not affected by the manner of activation. Furthermore, the nanoparticles had the shortest induction period and thus exhibited the highest activity, which demonstrated their potential to be novel activators for electroless deposition.