Process for metallising surfaces using metal powder

The application of the process described results in the surface metallisation of dielectric materials. This process comprises a first stage in which a metal powder whose particle size is between 10 and 5000 nm is deposited and then incorporated into the surface of the dielectric material. In the second stage of the process the dielectric material thus impregnated with metal is immersed in an autocatalytic bath, and this results in the covering of the regions impregnated with the material with a layer of the metal contained in the bath according to a thickness which is proportional to the immersion time. The process described also makes it possible to metallise materials such as oxides, polymers and composites containing these oxides and/or these polymers. The characteristics of the metal deposits are controlled, on the one hand, by the type of metal and the size and the geometry of the particles of metal powder and, on the other hand, by the type and structure of the dielectric materials covered with these deposits.