US 4,006,047 AGranted

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

AssigneeAMP Incorporated

InventorsCharles Roscoe Brummett, Ray Ned Shaak, Daniel Marshall Andrews

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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.

Claims15

Dependent claims

A method for the deposition of a copper, nickel cobalt, or gold as metal onto an inert substrate for said metal said substrate being selected from the group consisting of polyester, polyamides, polyvinylchloride, polyethylene, polypropylene, copolymers of either polyolefin, and poly (1a) olefins in the homologous series of the polyethylene and polypropylene, from an electroless bath containing said metal, said method comprising the steps of:

degreasing said substrate;
applying to said substrate a thin film of a thermally decomposable complex of palladium or platinum having the formulae
LmPdXn, or
LmPtXn
wherein
L is a ligand or an unsaturated organic group;
Pd or Pt is palladium or platinum metal;
X is a halide, an alkyl group or a bidentate ligand;
and m is from 1 to 4 and n is from 0 to 3
exposing said substrate to which said complex has been applied to heat at a temperature of less than a temperature at which the substrate loses its dimensional stability, to effect decomposition of said complex and to create a residue on said substrate catalytic to a copper, nickel, cobalt or gold metal in an electroless bath solution;
and
depositing a copper, nickel, cobalt or gold metal from said electroless bath on said substrate in an area rendered catalytic by decomposition of said complex.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.