Wet pre-treatment of poly(butylene) terephthalate-poly(ethylene) terephthalate blend and subsequent metallization by electroplating

摘要

Surface modification of poly(butylene) terephthalate-poly-(ethylene) terephthalate blend using sodium hydroxide pretreatment and followed by Cu-deposition through electroplating technique is described. By etching with sodium hydroxide, rough surfaces with carbonyl functional groups were obtained. The correlation between the etching rate and the surface morphologies was studied. Surface composition after etching and electroplating were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction respectively. The roughness and the cross-section morphologies of the blend before as well as after etching, and electrodeposition of Cu were characterized by atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy respectively. Using contact angle measurements, the effects of the etching time on the hydrophilic character of the polymer surface were assessed. Adhesion of Cu layer, evaluated by the Scotch tape test, depended on the surface roughness and the palladium content of the activating bath. Our results show that engineering plastics with ester functional groups can be etched by using alkali to promote metallization.