Stock material or miscellaneous articles – All metal or with adjacent metals – Having metal particles
Reexamination Certificate
1996-04-26
2001-01-09
Jones, Deborah (Department: 1775)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
All metal or with adjacent metals
Having metal particles
C428S548000, C428S551000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06171710
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to plating of conductive materials on substrates which normally afford a relatively poor adhesion with such plating materials.
2. Background Art
A number of techniques have been developed for plating metals on different surfaces that normally provide poor bonding with the plating when conducted electrolytically. Illustratively, the plating may be carried out in a liquid phase, or the plating may be carried out by vapor deposition in a gas phase. Alternatively, the plating may be effected by sputtering.
Non-electrolytic plating is well known as a method for metallizing a surface of an electrically insulating material. For example, when the material to be plated is a ceramic such as an aluminum oxide sintered body, an aluminum nitride sintered body, or a silicon carbide sintered body, metallic palladium fine particles have been adhered to the surface thereof. A plating film is then formed thereon. The metallic palladium particles are formed on the surface by bringing an aqueous solution including palladium ions into contact with the ceramic surface and reducing it in situ.
A serious problem arises however because the palladium particles are not strongly adhered to the surface of the material to be plated and the plating therefore has poor adhesion to the substrate surface.
Where the ceramic is a sintered body, irregularities on the material surface cause adherence to be slightly improved as a result of the anchoring effect. However, when the material surface is smooth, such as with glass, the plating very often peels from the surface.
Also, when plating on organic polymers, the material surface may be as smooth as glass and adherence again has been found to be bad.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention has as one objective to solve the above problem. It is an object of the invention to provide a surface treating agent, which when used in plating a metal layer to a base material to which it has heretofore been difficult to plate, such as a ceramic, glass, polymer or metal, makes possible strong adherence of the plating to the base material.
This invention comprehends providing a surface agent firmly bonded to the base material surface and in turn assuring the film bonding of the plating to the base material. The agent includes at least one kind of metal ultrafine particle chosen from Au, Pt, Pd, Rh, Ag, and Ni, a fixative including an organic compound including a metal which fixes the metal ultrafine particles, and an organic solvent. The fixative is preferably present in the ratio of 0.1 to 10 mol to 1 mol of the metal of the ultrafine particles. The agent may include a film strengthener and an organic solvent. With respect to 1 mol of the metal particles, the film strengthener is preferably present in the ratio of 0.01 to 5 mol.
The agent may include a viscosity adjusting material such as a polymer material soluble in an organic solvent with noble metal ultrafine particles being dispersed in the polymer.
The invention comprehends providing a complex made by preparing a thermodynamically inequilibrized polymer layer and bringing at least one kind of metal chosen from the group Au, Pt, Pd, Rh, Ag, and Ni into contact with the surface of the polymer layer and heating the polymer layer, thereby stabilizing the polymer layer and dispersing resulting metal ultrafine particles formed from the metal without aggregating them.
The invention further comprehends polymerizing or baking the surface treating agent printed on the base material surface. At least one kind of metal ultrafine particles chosen from the group Au, Pt, Pd, Rh, Ag, and Ni is independently dispersed in the layer to be plated.
The layer may be formed by polymerizing or baking the surface treating agent printed onto the base material surface and adhering a metal film thereon by plating, wherein at least one kind of metal ultrafine particle chosen from Au, Pt, Pd, Rh, Ag, and Ni is independently dispersed in the layer to be plated. Thus, the layer to be plated is interposed between the base material and the metal film and fixes these together.
The ultrafine particles are not completely enveloped by the fixative in the layer to be plated but are partially exposed. The metal particles become nuclei and precipitate metal ions and the metal plating film is strongly adhered thereto.
Viscosity adjusting material may be utilized to maintain the viscosity of the treating agent at a suitable level for improved screen printing.
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Noguchi, J. Mat. Sci. Letters, 10 (1991) 477, no month, “Novel Method to Disperse Ultrafine Metal Particles into Polymer.”
Itakura et al., “Prep. and Char. of Ultrafine Metal . . . ”, Langmuir 11 (Oct. 1995), p. 4129.
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Goto Kazuo
Hayashi Shigehiko
Kawahara Masahito
Noguchi Toru
Ogino Masayuki
Jones Deborah
Mitsuboshi Belting Ltd.
Wood Phillips VanSanten Clark & Mortimer
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