Metallization of Printed Circuit Boards Using Conducting Polyaniline

Abstract

Abstract A novel process using polyaniline for plating through hole technology has been developed. Polyaniline was dip-coated onto printed circuit boards and in turn acted as a thin conducting electrode for the electrolytic metallization of Cu on the through holes. This eliminates the necessity for expensive precious metal seeds and toxic electroless copper baths. This process offers simplification, cost reduction, and performance enhancement over current methods used in the industry. Spontaneous deposition of noble metals, e.g. Pd, Ag, occurred on polyaniline coated epoxy substrate by simply immersing the substrate in an aqueous solution containing the corresponding metal salt, e.g., CH3-C6H4-SO3Ag, PdCl2. The thin metallic layer so plated was then used as an electrode for subsequent electroplating of Cu.