Catalysts for electroless deposition of metals on comparatively low-temperature polyolefin and polyester substrates

TLDR: In this paper, a method for the metallization of a nonconductive surface with gold, nickel or copper is described, whereby on a non-conductive, relatively low temperature surface (such as a polyester or a polyolefin) a thermosensitive coordination complex of palladium (or platinum) is deposited from a solvent; the complex has the general formula LmPdXn wherein L is a ligand or unsaturated organic radical, X is a halide, alkyl group or a bidentate ligand and m is an integer

Abstract: A method for the metallization of a nonconductive surface with gold, nickel or copper whereby on a nonconductive, relatively low temperature surface (such as a polyester or a polyolefin) a thermosensitive coordination complex of palladium (or platinum) is deposited from a solvent; the complex has the general formula LmPdXn wherein L is a ligand or unsaturated organic radical, X is a halide, alkyl group or a bidentate ligand and m is an integer from 1 to 4 and n is from 0 to 3; bis-benzonitrile palladium dichloride complex is an appropriate illustration; the palladium complex is applied in a thin film from a suitable nonaqueous solution solvent such as xylene, toluene or a chlorobenzene onto the surface of the nonconductive material and that thin film is thermally decomposed, such as by an infrared irradiation; the method in the preferred embodiment can be practiced without the necessity of surface etching or similar chemical conditioning of the polyester, polyamide, polyvinyl chloride, or polyolefin substrate prior to the catalytic coating; circuit element intermediates of said substrates are also disclosed.