Metallization process of PA10T with chrome-free roughening and palladium-free activation

In order to replace the traditional pretreatment process for electroless plating of chromic acid roughening and colloid palladium activation, the metal layer was prepared on the surface of nylon (PA10T) through a green method. The distribution of functional groups and the change of valence bonds on the nylon surface were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry and X ray photoelectron spectrometry, and then a model was established to illustrate the metallization process. The results show that the roughening system of sulphuric acid-ethanol can be used to achieve the effect of roughening, make the amide bond rupture and generate amino and carboxyl in PA10T. When the palladium-free activation process is adopted, the surface activation of nylon could be achieved by the coordination of Cu²⁺ with amino groups and carboxyl groups. The simple and environmentally friendly method mentioned above could get a good adhesion of the metal coating on the PA10T surface, the coating binding force reaches 537 N·cm^-2 which is tested by electronic universal material testing machine.