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

A novel palladium-free and environmentally friendly surface activation process for Ni electroless plating was studied. The activation was carried out by immobilizing Ni nanoparticles as catalyst site on the ABS plastic surface. It is a cost effective activation method since Ni nanoparticles were successfully used as catalyst. The surface of ABS foils after etching and activating was investigated by XPS to get more information about the interfacial reaction mechanisms. Ni nanoparticles were uniformly formed on the substrate and a glossy and smooth Ni-P plating layer was obtained according to the SEM photographs. XRD pattern showed that the Ni-P layer is amorphous. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.