Methods of making metal patterns on flexible substrate

A method of forming a metal pattern on a flexible substrate, the method comprising:

• providing a patterned surface on the flexible substrate, the patterned surface including one or more recessed features and one or more plateau features adjacent to the recesses;
• treating the patterned surface to form a release coating thereon,
• coating a liquid solution on the release coating on the patterned surface to at least partially fill the recessed features and to cover the plateau features;
• solidifying the liquid solution to form a releasable solid layer in the recessed features and a solidified product residue on the plateau features, wherein the solidified product residue has a dry thickness at most one-half the thickness of the releasable solid layer in the recessed features;
• etching the patterned surface after solidifying the liquid solution to remove the solidified product residue from the plateau features;
• providing a metal layer to cover the etched patterned surface;
• and
• removing the releasable solid layer along with the metal layer thereon in the recessed features from the flexible substrate to form a pattern of the metal layer on the plateau features of the flexible substrate;
• wherein etching the patterned surface after solidifying the liquid solution further comprises chemically modifying the release coating on the plateau features to increase adhesion to the metal layer.