Plasma functionalization and etching for enhancing metal adhesion onto polymeric substrates

The metallization of plastics materials, dealing with a lot of industrial applications in the field of automotive, electronic, etc. ..., is generally performed by a chemical and/or electrochemical process not so ecofriendly. Therefore, this paper aims at studying an innovative two-step process for such metal coating onto ABS, ABS/PC and PEEK polymers. The first step corresponds to the plasma treatment improving the surface wettability and surface roughness. The second step is associated with the deposition of the copper metallic film by cathodic magnetron sputtering. Metallic adhesion is discussed in function of these two plasma-effects but also in function of the bias voltage or temperature substrate-holder during the film deposition. Moreover, the use of a titanium thin film as a primary layer, before copper deposition, has led to an increase of the metal/polymer adhesion. The metallization of plastics materials, dealing with a lot of industrial applications in the field of automotive, electronic, etc. ..., is generally performed by a chemical and/or electrochemical process not so ecofriendly.