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Direct electroplating of plastic for advanced electrical applications

Islam, Aminul; Hansen, Hans Nørgaard; Tang, Peter Torben

Published in:
C I R P Annals

Link to article, DOI:

10.1016/j.cirp.2017.04.124

Publication date:
2017

Document Version
Peer reviewed version

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Citation (APA):
Islam, A., Hansen, H. N., & Tang, P. T. (2017). Direct electroplating of plastic for advanced electrical
applications. C I R P Annals, 66(1), 209–212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cirp.2017.04.124

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 Direct electroplating of plastic for advanced electrical applications

Aminul Islam a, b,*, Hans Nørgaard Hansen (1) b, Peter Torben Tang c

aCentre for Acoustic-Mechanical Micro Systems, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
bDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
cIPU, Lyngby, Denmark

Electrodeposition or electroplating is predominantly applied to metallic components. Electroplating of plastics is possible in some cases where an initial
electroless plating layer of nickel or copper is made to provide a conductive surface on the plastic part. This paper proposes a method for direct
electroplating of plastic eliminating the need for slow and expensive processes like electroless metal deposition, PVD coating, painting with conductive
inks etc. The results obtained from the test demonstrate the potential of direct electroplating of plastic to enhance the electrical conductivity and the use
of electroplated plastics for advanced applications like Moulded Interconnect Devices (MIDs).

Plastic composite, Surface analysis, Electroplating

mechanical properties. This material consists of 15 wt.% (56

1. Introduction and motivation vol.%) Polyamide 6 (PA6), 52 wt.% of fine copper fibres (average
Electrically conductive plastics combine the properties of length 0.65 mm, diameter 35 µm) and 33 wt.% of a low-melting
plastics with the properties of metals. They are easy to process, Tin/Zinc alloy (199°C)) [5]. Fig. 1 shows the commercially
light weight, corrosion resistant, can be shaped by moulding; available granulates of the selected material (picture A). The
moreover they give the electrical conductivity needed for many Tin/Zinc alloy in the material becomes liquid during the
applications. Some polymers can be naturally or intrinsically processing phase (e.g. moulding) and makes the connection
conductive like polyanilines, poly(pyrrole)s, poly(thiophene)s, among the long copper fibers, and that is how the material makes
polyphenylenes, etc. But plastics can also be artificially made a conducting network of metallic components in the plastic
conductive by doping or compounding technologies [1]. The focus matrix (schematically presented in picture B of Fig. 1).
of this paper is the plastics that are made artificially conductive, Schulatec Tinco 50 Cu fibers Tin/Zinc alloy PA6 C

Volume resistivity (Ω⋅m)

9.01E-06
the so called conductive plastic composites. Different techniques A B 8.01E-06
7.01E-06
are used to make plastic conductive like the addition of fillers 6.01E-06

such as carbon black, graphite, carbon nano-tubes, metallic fibers

5.01E-06
4.01E-06

etc. [2]. These compounds are typically used in electrostatic 3.01E-06

2.01E-06

discharge (ESD) control and electromagnetic interference (EMI) 1.01E-06

1.00E-08

shielding applications [3]. In the near future, the modified Schulatec CNT filled Metallized Pure
TinCO 50 Plastic plastic Copper
electrically conductive plastics can be widely used in many other
Figure 1. Granulates of Schulatec TinCo 50 (A), schematic representation
industrial applications like for the production of Moulded of conductive network inside moulded parts (B), comparative resistivity
Interconnect Devices (MIDs), for antennas, solar cells, polymer (approximate) of Schulatec TinCo 50 compared with other materials (C).
based electronics, biosensors, LED lighting, touch sensors,
polymer based MEMS devices, transistors and many more. Fig. 2 presents the results from the morphological investigation
Particularly the MIDs show enormous potential in using done with the moulded parts of the material. The analysis was
electrically conductive polymers, due to the adaption of done with the help of an Alicona Infinite Focus microscope and
conductive patterns to the geometric form of the products [4]. But Scanning Probe Image Processor (SPIP) version 6.6.1. Picture C of
before the electrically conductive plastics can be used in such Fig. 2 was taken at the cross section of a moulded sample. The
wide spread applications, there are some technical challenges to copper fibers are clearly visible in the cross section which are
overcome. One of these is the achievable electrical conductivity of connected by the tin/zinc alloy (white colour substance) to some
the composites [5]. It is possible to produce highly complex 3D extent. In this way the copper fibers and the alloys are forming a
conductive elements by injection moulding from conductive conductive network of metallic materials inside the polymer
composites, but the offered conductivity is not as good as it is matrix. Many disconnections among the neighbouring fibres are
required for many applications. One example of such is visible too. This proves that a theoretical continuous network of
demonstrated in [6] with an FM antenna for hearing aids. copper fibers (as presented in picture B of Fig. 1) is not possible.
Currently available electrically conductive composites are unable It is characterized by a combination of continuous and
to fulfil the future demands and when it comes to the point of discontinuous fiber networks in the polymer matrix. The
thin-walled or miniaturized components, so far conductive morphological analysis at the cross section revealed that about
plastics have nothing to offer as the conductivity of the material is 21% area was covered with copper (yellow substance in picture
drastically reduced due to smaller dimensions [5]. In this paper, a E), about 17 % area was covered by tin-zinc alloy (grey in picture
novel method for the direct electroplating of plastics is proposed. F) and the rest was the plastic material-PA6 (black in picture D).
The proposed method can significantly improve the electrical
conductivity of the poorly conductive plastic composite.

2. Materials and methods

To select a mouldable and highly conductive plastic composite,

an extensive search was made in material data bases and also in
the literature. The final selection was Schulatec TinCo 50 from
A. Schulman Inc, Akron, USA which showed the highest electrical
conductivity among the available options and also good
 Moulded part Polished cross Microscope picture at the cross section current case will eliminate the need of any secondary processes
A B section C 400 µm to make the preliminary conductive surface.

For the electroplating experiment, the injection moulded test

specimen (shown in Fig. 2 - picture A) made with Schulatec TinCo
50 were connected to cathode terminal of the plating bath and the
anode was pure copper (Cu) electrode. The plating bath was an
acidic copper bath based on sulphuric acid and copper sulphate.
D 200 µm E 200 µm F 200 µm During the first trial of the plating, the used current supply was 3
A/dm2 and the plating time set was 6 mins. The result of the
initial trial of the electroplating is shown in Fig. 3 (picture A, B
and C). Some plating of Cu on some selective areas of the part
surface was visible but most of the area was uncovered. As the
PA 6 – 62 % Cu – 21% Tin/Zinc alloy – 17% current and plating time are the main parameters for the
Figure 2. Moulded specimen (A), Sample prepared microscopic
electroplating, several trial and error steps were carried out to
investigation (B), optical microscope image at the part cross section (C), find some optimized plating conditions by changing time and
material analysis results for PA 6 (D), Cu (E) and Tin/Zinc alloy (F). current. A current density of 8 A/dm2 plating time of 11 minutes
were found as the most optimized condition for the electroplating
Schulatec TinCo 50 is a non-homogeneous mixture (can also be trial. But even with these plating conditions, the metallic coverage
seen in Fig. 2) that has no defined conductive direction. For the was not good. About 12% areas of test parts were covered with
material, the manufacturer claims a conductivity of 5×105 S/m [7] metal and rest of the areas were uncovered.
(volume resistivity of 2.00×10−4 Ω-m). It is important to note that
A B C
detailed studies about similar materials report that the
conductivity values are susceptible to the injection moulding
conditions such as: mould temperature, distance from the
injection gate, flow direction, part geometry, dimension etc. [5, 7,
8]. Nevertheless, the electrical conductivity of Schulatec TinCo 50
is among the highest ranking conductive composites. The
comparative volume resistivity of Schulatec TinCo 50 is 200 µm

presented in the Fig. 1 (picture C). The resistivity is significantly Part after plating Micrograph: Electroplated surface 3D Image: Electroplated surface
lower than other commercially available conductive plastics like Figure 3. Part after plating (A), optical microscope picture of the
Plasticyl PA 1501 which is Polyamide (PA66) filled with 15 wt% electroplated surface (B) and 3D profile image of the surface (C).
Carbon Nano Tubes (CNTs). But the resistivity of Schulatec TinCo
50 it is still many times higher than pure copper or metallized To find the reason for poor coverage of the surface after
plastics (with copper). This is the problem for many current and electroplating, the moulded part was subjected to microscopic
future applications as discussed before. The following investigation. Fig. 4 (picture A) shows a magnified view of a part
experimental process and results will show one way to enhance surface before electroplating, where some metallic materials
the electrical conductivity of the plastic composite to help the (fibers) are visible on the surface but the amount is low. An
wide spared applications of conductive plastics for the analysis of the surface with Alicona and SPIP showed about 7%
production of electromechanical components. surface area was covered by the metallic fibers and rest of the
area was basically plastic material. A close look to the exposed
3. Electroplating experiments and results metallic fibers showed that even the area that was covered by
metallic fiver was having a thin layer of plastic material over the
To enhance the electrical conductivity of parts moulded with metal fibers (about 5 to 10 µm thick). This thin plastic layer was
Schulatec TinCo 50, an electroplating process was applied. The the so called skin layer formed by plastic moulding process. The
most widely used metallization process for plastics is an presence of this thin plastic layer between the metal fibers and
electroless process which is characterized by being a slow, electroplated metal hindered the adhesion of the plated metal
chemical intensive process involving many different process and it did not pass the tape test (could be easily removed by
steps [9]. The electroless process is toxic especially the etching adhesive tape). The tape test performed was similar to the
solution that consists of a hot balanced mixture of chromic acid, procedure describe in IPC-TM-650 [11].
sulfuric acid, and water [10]. The introduction of these chemicals
to a production chain raises huge environmental and safety To increase the metallic coverage by electroplating process
concerns. The direct electroplating of plastics can overcome most different surface treatment techniques like milling, sand paper
of these problems. Electroplating is primarily used to change the grinding and wet abrasive blasting (wetblasting) were used.
surface properties of an object (e.g. abrasion and wear resistance, Basically, with these processes some material from the part
corrosion protection, aesthetic qualities, etc. [10]). But this can be surface was removed to expose more metallic fibers. By the
beneficial also for the global conductivity of the material as it can milling, about 0.1 mm of material was removed from the surface
create a highly conductive surface layer. The presences of some using a rotary cutter. During sand paper grinding, 80 grit size
degree of conductivity in Schulatec TinCo 50, suggests that direct papers was used to remove about 0.1 mm surface layer. For the
plating of the material can be a possibility. This attempt has never wetblasting process a mixture of water and abrasive (Al2O3
been reported before according to the material supplier [7]. powder) was propelled via a blast nozzle to remove the skin layer
When electroplating is attempted for plastics, usually a thin initial from the part surface. The equipment used was Vapormate 3
layer of metal is deposited on the surface by process like from Vapormatt Ltd, UK. Approximately 0.1 mm thick layer of
electroless metal deposition, conductive painting or PVD coating material was removed by the blasting process. The changes made
etc. But the use of the electrically conductive plastic as in the by different surface treatment can be seen in the picture B, C and
D of Fig. 4 in comparison with the original surface shown in
picture A. The surface treated parts had higher amount of metal Fig. 6 (picture A) shows a cross sectional interface of deposited
fibers exposed to the surface compared to the original moulded metal on the surface of a moulded part. Between the copper fiber
surface. Fig. 4 (picture G) shows the metallic fibres spiking out and the metal layer, a gap is visible which basically is a thin layer
from the surface treated part and picture E and F show the of plastic. So in this case, the adhesion occurs between metal and
macroscopic difference made by surface treatment (wetblasting). plastic which is a weak adhesion. On the contrary, picture B of
Fig. 6 reveals the adhesion mechanism in case of surface treated
A B E parts. By the surface treatment, the skin layer is removed. This is
why metal-to-metal adhesion can occur which generates a strong
Moulded part bond [12]. Moreover, the increased average surface roughness by
F the surface treatments also had positive effects on the adhesion of
100 µm 100 µm electroplated metal on the part surface. The electrodeposited
Moulded surface Milled surface Surface treated part metal on the surface treated parts passed the tape test (it was not
C D G possible to remove the metal with the tape).

A Non-treated part B Surface treated part

Plated metal Plated metal

100 µm 100 µm 50 µm

Grinded surface Wetblasted surface Wetblasted - fibers exposed 200 µm

Figure 4. Surfaces of the moulded Schulatec TinCo 50 parts modified by
different surface treatment techniques.
Cu fiber
Cu fiber
After the surface treatments, the treated parts were exposed to 20 µm 20 µm

the electroplating using the optimum conditions selected during

the initial trial. The results showed significant improvement on Figure 6. Adhesion mechanism of plated metal on treated and
the coverage of the plated metal, nevertheless, the metallic non-treated surfaces.
coverage was not 100%. Fig. 5 shows the comparative pictures
(A, B and C) of the plated surfaces with different surface In connection with the electroplating process, a nickel (Ni) bath
treatment techniques. was also used for the plating. Ni plated surface offers excellent
corrosion resistance, solderability and surface uniformity [13].
A B These aspects of Ni plating can be highly attractive for
applications like in MIDs. The used Ni bath was a low-stress and
low-speed bath based on nickel sulphamate and boric acid. The
current density and the time used for this bath were same as
optimized Cu bath (plating result shown in Fig. 7). The surface
analysis of the Ni plated parts showed that the coverage of Ni was
higher (about 64% surface was covered) than previously Cu
200 µm 200 µm
plated parts (maximum coverage obtained was about 45%).
A B
Not plated part

Milled surface Grinded surface

Cu plated part

C D Surface coverage before and after plating

50
% of area covered by metal

45 Before plating After plating

40
35
Ni plated part

30
25
20
15
10
5
200 µm
200 µm 0
Non-treated Grinded Milled Wetblasted

Comparative coverage plot

Figure 7. Picture of Ni plated part in comparison with Cu plated and
Wetblasted surface
non-plated part (A), optical microscope picture of deposited Ni on the
Figure 5. Electroplating results from various treated surfaces (Picture A, Schulatec TinCo 50 surface (B).
B and C), improvement on the surface coverage after surface treatment
and electroplating (plot D). Roughness analysis of the electroplated surface
A SPIP analysis revealed that when the surface was untreated The roughness of the electroplated parts were analysed with
about 7% area was covered by metal before plating and after the help Alicona and SPIP. The height of the deposited metal was
plating it was about 12%. Different surface treatment techniques consistently larger but the coverage was less on the surfaces that
increase the metallic coverage on the surface of the parts both were not treated. This resulted from the fact of the local
before and after electroplating (comparative results are concentration of electric fields due to the higher separation
presented in plot D of Fig. 5). The best results were obtained by between active electrodeposition sites compared to that of the
the surface treatment with wetblasting. On the average, the surface treated parts. The highly concentrated and localized
wetblasted surface had about 17% metallic coverage before plated surface of the non-treated part is visible in Fig. 8 (picture
electroplating and after electroplating the coverage was about A). The average roughness of non-treated and plated parts was
45% which was a significant improvement. Besides the positive measured 26.2±2.4 µm. Compare to this, the treated and plated
effect on the coverage, the surface treatments also had positive surface shows more uniformity in the surface profile as shown in
effects on the adhesion of the electroplated metal layers. Fig. 8 (picture B and C for wetblasted and plated with Cu and Ni
respectively). Nickel plated surface was smother compare to the
Copper plated surface The average roughness (Sa) measured on
the Ni and Cu plated parts (5 of each) were 15.8±2.2 µm and the plating process to get 100% electroplated metal coverage on
19.7±2.3 µm µm respectively. the surface. In the current work, Schulatec TinCo 50 material was
Line profile: Part Cu plated without surface treatment used which was loaded with long copper fibres. Polymer matrix
A filled with metal particles instead of fibre could have resulted in
better plating due to the better dispersion of particles. Various
combinations of filler materials like metal fibers, metal particles,

[µm]
carbon nano tubes (CNTs) etc. can be other options for the future
investigation. Different plastic matrix should also be investigated
in the future other than the currently chosen Polyamide.
[mm] Moreover the possibilities of chemical etching to remove the skin
Line profile: Part treated by wetblasting and Cu plated
layer (selectively/non-selectively) should also be investigated.
B
5. Conclusion
[µm]

A novel method for the direct electroplating of plastic is

presented in the paper. It has been demonstrated that the use of
conductive plastic composites in direct electroplating can
[mm]
Line profile: Part treated by wetblasting and Ni plated eliminating the need for the state-of-the-art thin layer deposition
C processes for the electroplating of plastics. Making full coverage
of electroplated metal on the plastic surface is a challenge.
Different surface treatments like grinding, milling or wetblasting
[µm]

have different levels of influence on the metallic coverage. It is

proven that even the partially plated surface can significantly
improve the conductivity of the material. After this work, it is
[mm] possible to add a new MID process chain in the list of available
Figure 8. Picture from the electroplated part surface analysis- 3D pictures MID manufacturing methods presented in [14], which will be the
shows true surface topography and the line profile shows the 2D surface two component (2K) moulding with a conductive/non-conductive
topography along the middle of the image. plastic pair combined with the subsequent direct electroplating to
enhance the conductivity of the electrical structures.
Electrical testing
References
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The electroplating on plastics can bypass many of the known
disadvantages of the electroless plating. The skin layer formed
during injection moulding proved to be a detrimental factor for
electroplating on plastics. In this paper, diverse pre-treatment
techniques for the surface were investigated. The best plating
results were obtained with the surface treatment by wetblasting.
The adhesion was significantly improved by the blasting process
and relatively high metal coverage was achieved on wetblasted
samples. Future work should be focused on the optimization of