Copper electroless metallization of 3D printed poly(lactide acid) elements via tannic acid or polydopamine coatings and silver catalyst

The paper presents the effects of electroless copper plating of elements made of poly(lactide acid) and obtained by 3D printing. In the applied technique of metallization, an innovative method of surface activation was used, with the use of tannin and polydopamine coatings deposited by a simple dip technique. The unique ability of these coatings to reduce metal ions from their aqueous solutions was used. The surface activation was carried out by depositing silver atoms from an aqueous solution of silver nitrate. Silver atoms served as a catalyst for electroless copper plating. The activation and metallization effects were assessed by visual inspection, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray analysis. The deposited copper layer was additionally characterized by determining the values of surface resistivity, volume resistivity and adhesive strength. The applied method allowed for the metallization of 3D printed poly(lactide acid) elements, and the copper layer was deposited even in hard-to-reach places of the sample. The quality of the deposited copper layer strongly depended on the type of coating, the time of coating deposition and the time of metallization. In general, however, better-quality copper layers were obtained by using a tannic acid coating in the activation process.

Automated summary

The paper presents the effects of electroless copper plating on poly(lactide acid) elements obtained by 3D printing. A novel method of surface activation using tannin and polydopamine coatings was applied. The activation and metallization effects were assessed by multiple characterization techniques.