Dual-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes epoxy-based nanocomposites for simplified, adhesive spray-deposited silver layer

Weak plating performance and poor adhesion between epoxy and silver coatings can restrict the development of miniaturized electronic devices and multi-layer circuits. In this work, we fabricate a novel epoxy-based nanocomposite containing -SH and -NH 2 dual functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (d-MWCNTs), with enhanced adhesive properties towards silver particles. The enhanced adhesion mechanisms are also investigated by 3D profiling, scanning electron microscopy, cross-cut test, and Raman spectroscopy. Introducing d-MWCNTs improved the surface roughness of the nanocomposites, but the improvements become unstable when the d-MWCNTs content exceeded 0.6 g/15 g epoxy. In addition, the d-MWCNTs are found to affect the size and shape of the coated silver particles. Besides, we find that neither NH 2 -dominated nor SH-dominated functionalization improve the adhesion effectively, while a balance proportion of the two (v (-NH2) silane : v (-SH) silane  = 4:6) does. These findings may open the door for the simplification and optimization of epoxy-metal plating for multi-layer circuit applications.