https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/files/126683921/Edited_sudagar_R1.pdf

Electroless nickel, alloy, composite and nano coatings – A critical review

ABS is an engineering plastic that has butadiene part uniformly distributed over the acrylonitrile-styrene matrix. It possesses excellent toughness, good dimensional stability, easy processing ability, chemical resistance, and cheapness. However, it suffers from inherent shortcomings in terms of mechanical strength and vulnerability to environmental conditions. Furthermore, it is non-conducting and easily fretted. Plating on ABS can serve to enhance the strength and structural integrity as well as to improve durability and thermal resistance resulting in metallic properties on the ABS material. ABS is described as the most suitable candidate for plating because it is possible to deposit an adherent metal coating on it by only the use of chemical pretreatment process and without the use of any mechanical abrasion. This article aims to review the history of ABS plastics, properties of ABS, processes and mechanisms of plating, and studies of plating on ABS involving mainly eco-friendly methods of plating by discussing the literature published in recent years. The details of electroplating of ABS carried out in the authors’ laboratory are also presented.

Plating on acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) plastic: a review

A new, efficient, palladium- and chromium-free process for the electroless plating of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) polymers has been developed. The process is based on the ion-exchange properties of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) chemically grafted onto ABS via a simple and one-step method that prevents using classical surface conditioning. Hence, ABS electroless plating can be obtained in three steps, namely: (i) the grafting of PAA onto ABS, (ii) the copper Cu0 seeding of the ABS surface, and (iii) the nickel or copper metallization using commercial-like electroless plating bath. IR, XPS, and SEM were used to characterize each step of the process, and the Cu loading was quantified by atomic absorption spectroscopy. This process successfully compares with the commercial one based on chromic acid etching and palladium-based seed layer, because the final metallic layer showed excellent adhesion with the ABS substrate.

ABS Polymer Electroless Plating through a One-Step Poly(acrylic acid) Covalent Grafting

Copper electroless plating of cotton fabrics after surface activation with deposition of silver and copper nanoparticles

Recently, metallization on polymer substrates has been given more attention due to its outstanding properties of both plastics and metals. In this study, the metal oxide composite of copper–chromium oxide (CuO·Cr2O3) was incorporated into the polymer matrix to design a good laser direct structuring (LDS) material, and the well-defined copper pattern (thickness =10 μm) was successfully fabricated through selective metallization based on 1064 nm near-infrared pulsed laser activation and electroless copper plating. We also prepared polymer composites incorporated with CuO and Cr2O3; however, these two polymer composites both had very poor capacity of selective metallization, which has no practical value for LDS technology. In our work, the key reasons causing the above results were systematically studied and elucidated using XPS, UV–vis–IR, optical microscopy, SEM, contact angle, ATR FTIR, and so on. The results showed that 54.0% Cu2+ in the polymer composite of CuO·Cr2O3 (the amount =5 wt %) is reduced to C...

Selective Metallization Induced by Laser Activation: Fabricating Metallized Patterns on Polymer via Metal Oxide Composite.

A new palladium-free surface activation process for Ni electroless plating on ABS plastic

The invention relates to a preparation method of diisobutyl phosphinic acid aluminum. According to the preparation method, sodium hypophosphite and isobutene are used as raw materials, ultraviolet light is utilized to excite acetone to result in addition reaction of the isobutene and the sodium hypophosphite to generate diisobutyl phosphinic acid sodium which contains a small amount of isobutyl phosphinic acid sodium, the diisobutyl phosphinic acid sodium is obtained through purification, and then the diisobutyl phosphinic acid sodium is mixed with aluminum salt for double decomposition reaction to obtain white powdery diisobutyl phosphinic acid aluminum with higher purity and good heat stability. According to the preparation process, the synthetic reaction is performed at low temperature and normal pressure, so the preparation method has the advantages of high production safety coefficient, mild condition and simplicity in operation; the acetone is used as an initiating agent in the preparation method, so the preparation method has the advantages of short time, low cost, easiness in control, high efficiency and less byproduct; and the ultraviolet light is used as an energy source to excite the acetone to generate free radicals, so the preparation method has the advantages of high energy and efficiency, good reaction selectivity and great reduction of reaction temperature.

Preparation method of diisobutyl phosphinic acid aluminum

The invention relates to a preparation method of polymerization alkyl aluminum hypophosphite. According to the preparation method, sodium hypophosphite, acetylene and ethylene are used as raw materials, acetic acid is used as a solvent, acetone is used as a photoinitiator, ultraviolet light is used for triggering addition reaction of the acetylene, the ethylene and the sodium hypophosphite, polymerization sodium hypophosphite is synthesized, the polymerization sodium hypophosphite takes reaction with aluminum salt, polymerization aluminum hypophosphite is generated, the washing and the vacuum drying are carried out, and the white powder polymerization alkyl aluminum hypophosphite can be prepared. The preparation method has the advantages that according to a production process, the synthetic reaction is carried out at low temperature and normal pressure, the use of peroxide initiating agents and high pressure are avoided, the production safety coefficient is high, the condition is mild, and the operation is simple; according to the preparation method, the acetone is used as the photoinitiator, the cost is low, the control is easy, the efficiency is high, and the pollution is little; and according to the preparation method, an ultraviolet lamp is used as energy sources to excite the acetone to generate free radicals, the energy is high, the efficiency is high, the reaction selectivity is good, and the reaction temperature can be greatly reduced.

Preparation method of polymerization alkyl aluminum hypophosphite

A method for preparing phosphine using phosphate-containing waste residues in industrial production of sodium hypophosphite comprises the following steps of: pre-drying and pulverizing phosphate-containing waste residues, adding phosphorus pentoxide, and stirring; calcinating with nitrogen gas as a carrier gas and a shielding gas to obtain a mixed gas product of phosphine containing calcium phosphate particles and nitrogen gas; removing calcium phosphate particles, and removing nitrogen gas and other impurities in the mixed gas product by using low-temperature freeze separation to obtain a phosphine product. The inventive method has the advantages of simple and practical process, low energy consumption, and no environmental pollution. The obtained high-quality phosphine has purity of 95%,and can be directly used as a fresh-keeping gas or a raw material gas for preparing high-purity yellow phosphorus by pyrolytic decomposition. The obtained high-quality phosphate as a byproduct can beused as an animal food additive, and the phosphorus content is over 18%. The inventive method can effectively utilize natural resources, and has good environmental, social and economic benefits.

Changxiu Han

Papers

A new palladium-free surface activation process for Ni electroless plating on ABS plastic

Preparation method of diisobutyl phosphinic acid aluminum

Preparation method of polymerization alkyl aluminum hypophosphite

Process for preparing phosphorane form phosphorus-containing waste slag of industrial production of sodium hypophosphite