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. 2020 Jun 3;12(6):1277.
doi: 10.3390/polym12061277.

The Efficacy of Polymer Coatings for the Protection of Electroless Copper Plated Polyester Fabric

Alenka Ojstršek  1 , Natalija Virant  1 , Daryl Fox  2 , Latha Krishnan  2 , Andrew Cobley  2
Affiliations

The Efficacy of Polymer Coatings for the Protection of Electroless Copper Plated Polyester Fabric

Alenka Ojstršek et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

The selective metallisation of textiles is becoming a very important process in the development of electronic or e-textiles. This study investigated the efficacy of polymer coatings for the protection of copper (Cu) conductive tracks electroless plated on polyester (PES) fabric against laundering and rubbing, without essentially affecting the physical-mechanical and optical properties of the base material. After the electroless deposition of a consistent layer of Cu onto PES, four polymers were applied individually by screen-printing or padding. The physical-mechanical characterisation of coated textiles revealed that polyurethane resin (PUR) and modified acrylate resin (AR) had little effect on the air permeability, tensile strength and breaking tenacity of the PES, as compared to silicone elastomer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and epoxy resin (ER). On the other hand, PUR and PDMS had higher abrasion resistance and photo-stability under prolonged UV irradiation, as compared to AR and ER. In addition, freshly Cu plated samples were coated with polymers, washed up to 30 cycles and characterised by measuring their electrical resistivity, determination of colour changes and the examination of the surface morphology. Based on these results, PUR presented the most suitable protection of Cu tracks on PES, with the lowest impact on physical-mechanical properties. ER is not recommended to be used for protection of Cu tracks on fabrics, due to its rigidity, low photo-stability, washing and wear durability.

Keywords: PES fabric; conductive textile; corrosion protection; electroless copper plating; polymers coatings.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scheme of the steps involved in an electroless copper (Cu) plating of polyester (PES) fabric.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Electrical resistivity measuring lines/distances; 1 (5.7 cm), 2 (5.7 cm) and 3 (4 cm).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mechanical features of uncoated and coated samples in warp and weft directions.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mass loss of polymer coated PES samples, measured at 5,000, 10,000 and 20,000 rubbing cycles.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Samples before 0 and after 30 days of UV light exposure: reflectance curves (a) and W and YI values (b).
Figure 6
Figure 6
OM of Cu metallised/protected samples: before washing (A1–E1); after washings (A2–E2); cross-section after washings (A3–E3); and SEM after washings (A4–E4); Cu (A1–A4); Cu/PDMS (B1–B4); Cu/PUR (C1–C4); Cu/AR (D1–D4); Cu/ER (E1–E4). Scale bar: 200 µm for OM and 20 µm for SEM.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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