Polycarbonate activation for electroless plating by dimethylaminoborane absorption and subsequent nanoparticle deposition

Electroless plating of metal films on polymer substrates usually requires the presence of metal particles acting as catalytically active nuclei for the deposition reaction. Herein, we present a novel and versatile approach towards the activation of polycarbonate substrates with metal nanoparticles. It is based on the diffusion of dimethylaminoborane into the polymer matrix, followed by reaction of the sensitized substrates with metal salt solutions. The reducing agent uptake was controlled by changing the duration of the sensitization and the dimethylaminoborane concentration in the sensitization solution. Different seed types (Ag, Au, Pd, Pt and Rh) were deposited by variation of the activation solution. The proposed mechanism was confirmed with FTIR and TEM measurements. In addition, AFM revealed that apart from a slight roughening in the nanometer range, the surface morphology of the polymer remained unchanged, rendering the method viable for template-based nanomaterial fabrication. Due to its pronounced variability, the new technique allows to tailor the activity of polymer substrates for consecutive electroless plating. The feasibility and nanoscale homogeneity of the process were proven by the electroless fabrication of well-defined Au and Pt nanotubes in ion-track etched polycarbonate templates. The combination of features (use of simple and easily scalable wet-chemical processes, facile seed variation, high activation quality on complex surfaces) renders the outlined technique promising for the fabrication of intricate nanomaterials as well as for the metallization of macroscopic work pieces.