Laser-Induced Selective Metallization on Polymer Substrates Using Organocopper for Portable Electronics

Our work proposed a facile strategy for selective fabrication of the precise metalized patterns onto polymer substrates through the laser direct structuring (LDS) technology using organocopper compounds. Copper oxalate (CuC2O4) and copper acetylacetonate [Cu(acac)2] which can be used as laser sensitizers were first introduced into an acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) matrix for preparing LDS materials. After the activation with 1064 nm pulsed near-infrared laser, the Cu0 (metal copper) was generated from CuC2O4 and Cu(acac)2 and then served as catalyst species for the electroless copper plating (ECP). A series of characterizations were conducted to investigate the morphology and analyze the surface chemistry of ABS/CuC2O4 and ABS/Cu(acac)2 composites. Specially, the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis indicated that 58.3% Cu2+ in ABS/CuC2O4 was reduced to Cu0, while this value was 63.9% for ABS/Cu(acac)2. After 30 min ECP, the conductivities of copper circuit on ABS/CuC2O4 and ABS/Cu(acac)2 composites were 1.22 × 107 and 1.58 × 107 Ω–1·m–1, respectively. Moreover, the decorated patterns and near-field communication circuit were demonstrated by this LDS technology. We believe that this study paves the way for developing organocopper-based LDS materials, which have the potential for industrial applications.