Toxic Free metallization process for plastic surfaces

Technological advancement has significantly transformed plating methods by introducing metal coatings on plastic substrates. Plating on plastics (PoP) has emerged as an effective solution in a wide range of applications in the automotive, aerospace and home appliances industry. There is a high preference for plating on plastic in the automotive industry, owing to its light weight, cost effectiveness and corrosion resistance. In the automotive industry, it not only adds aesthetic value but also helps in increasing fuel efficiency by reducing the overall vehicle weight.

Decorative chrome, copper and nickel plating is quite popular on various interior and exterior plastic parts such as knobs, handles, logos, emblems, trims, etc. ABS, PC, PET, Nylon, and PEEK are widely used polymers in plastic plating.

However, the current processes for PoP present some significant disadvantages related to environmental sustainability, occupational safety and quality of coatings i.e the use of hexevalent chromium in the etching process and the use of Palladium in the activation step.

FreeMe project proposes two revolutionaries approaches for the metallization of polymeric (plastic or resins) surfaces without the use of hexavalent chromium and palladium.

The first technology is based on the use of resins (e.g. epoxy-acrylate resins) with the additions of suitable nickel based precursors. This composite resin can be deposited uniformly in the surface of the plastic object either by spray deposition methods or other simple deposition methods. The nickel precursors are afterwards reduced utilizing appropriate reduction agents (e.g. NaBH4) creating the necessary nuclei for the next step of electroless deposition for the formation of the conductive layer.