Preparation and properties of copper-silver complex plating on PET fabrics

This paper proposes a facile way to fabricate PET fabrics with electromagnetic shielding effect and conductive properties through preparing autocatalytic carboxylic styrene butadiene latex film with catalyst PdCl 2 , and followed with copper electroless plating and silver electroplating. The influence of operating parameters on copper and silver complex plating was investigated. The copper-silver layer was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). The rate of weight gain, deposition rate and layer adhesion strength were also analyzed. The results indicated that copper-silver complex layer formed on PET surface was imparted with good electrical conductivity, fine uniformity and high compactness.