Utilizing a pH-responsive palladium nanocomposite to fabricate adhesion-enhanced and highly reliable copper coating on nylon 6 fabrics

Abstract

Conductive fibers are an important part of wearable electronic devices or smart textiles while several grand challenges have to be still overcome. In this study, we describe a simple and efficient method to prepare a copper layer on nylon 6 fabrics by using a pH-responsive styrene (St)-co-N, N-dimethyl-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA)/Pd nanocomposite. The St-co-DMAEMA/Pd can effectively enhance the adhesion between the copper layer and the substrate. Nylon 6 fabric is treated with an optimal acid concentration of 2.0 M before electroless deposition. The pretreatment will promote the affinity between the nanocomposite catalyst and the modified nylon 6 fabric and form a more favorable environment for copper deposition. Furthermore, the process yields excellent copper deposition (1.59 μm) onto nylon 6 fabric after electroless plating for 20 min. The copper layer formed by the method has a low resistance of about 2.51 Ω and the variation of resistance before and after bending test is small. In addition, the characteristic of pH responsive copolymers (St-co-DMAEMA) that displays high hydrophilicity at low pH values and high hydrophobicity at high pH values is crucial for electroless copper plating. This facile method is successfully applied in the metallization of nylon 6 fabric.