A facile process to fabricate electroless plating on PET sheet: Effects of surface roughness on adhesive force, electronic and structural properties of copper coating

In this work, a facile method combined with catalyst solution (mixture of AgNO 3 , 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, alcohol, SiO 2 particle and deionized water) printing and electroless deposition to fabricate selective copper coating is demonstrated. The catalyst solution can write onto (polyethylene terephthalate (PET)) surface directly with good stability and resolution. The structure can catalyze plating reaction. SiO 2 particle can enhance surface roughness ( S r ) of catalyst coating. Effects of S r on electronic, adhesive force and structural properties of copper coating are investigated. High S r can facilitate the enhancement of Ag-adsorbed amount, deposition rate, adhesive force, crystallinity and electrical stability of plated coating. When the S r is 0.78 µm, the thickness of copper coating is 2.5 µm, minimum width of copper line is 250 µm, the resistivity is 2.1 × 10 −6  Ω cm, adhesion of 2.5 µm thick coating is 5B.