Noble metal-polymer composites and flexible thin-film conductors prepared therefrom
AssigneeMinnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
InventorsVasant V. Kolpe, Paul M. Williams
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Abstract
A composite article is prepared as a polymeric support having a coating of noble metal deposited on at least one surface thereof, the coating exhibiting suitable peel force for high performance applications such as the preparation of an electrode, such as a biocompatible, flexible, thin-film microelectrode where in the composite article can be prepared by pretreating at least one surface of the support by sputter etching, followed by sputter-depositing a noble metal on the pretreated surface in order to form the coating of noble metal.
Claims13
A composite article comprising a polymeric support selected from the group consisting of a polyimide, polyethylene terephthalate, and polyester-ether block copolymer having a noble metal deposited directly onto at least one surface, wherein said deposited metal exhibits a peel force of at least about 0.05 kg per millimeter width after 24 hour boiling saline treatment.
A multiconductor, microelectrode stimulation array fabricated from a composite article, said article comprising a polymeric support selected from the group consisting of a polymide, polyethylene terephthalate, and polyester-ether block copolymer, at least one surface of said support pretreated by sputter-etching and having a coating of a noble metal deposited thereon by sputter-deposition, wherein said coating exhibits a peel force of at least about 0.05 kg per millimeter width after 24 hour boiling saline treatment.
A composite article comprising a polymeric support selected from the group consisting of a polyimide, polyethylene terephthalate, and polyester-ether block copolymer having a coating of a noble metal deposited on at least one surface, wherein said article is prepared by a method comprising the steps of
- (a) pretreating at least one surface of said polymeric support by sputter-etching, and
- (b) sputter-depositing a noble metal on said pretreated surface in a manner that forms a coating comprising said noble metal deposited on said surface, said coating exhibiting a peel force suitable for its intended purpose.
A multicolor, microelectrode stimulation array prepared by a method comprising the steps of:
- (1) preparing a composite article comprising a polymeric support selected from the group consisting of a polyimide, polyethylene terephthalate, and polyester-ether block copolymer, at least one surface of said support pretreated by sputter-etching and having a continuous coating of a noble metal deposited thereon by sputter-deposition, and
- (2) fabricating said array from said composite article.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.