Electroless Deposition of Palladium on Macroscopic 3D-Printed Polymers with Dense Microlattice Architectures for Development of Multifunctional Composite Materials

Abstract

A simple procedure has been developed to create palladium (Pd) films on the surface of several common polymers used in commercial fused deposition modeling (FDM) and stereolithography (SLA) based three-dimensional (3D) printing by an electroless deposition process. The procedure can be performed at room temperature, with equipment less expensive than many 3D printers, and occurs rapidly enough to achieve full coverage of the film within a few minutes. 3D substrates composed of dense logpile or cubic lattices with part sizes in the mm to cm range, and feature sizes as small as 150 μm were designed and printed using commercially available 3D printers. The deposition procedure was successfully adapted to show full coverage in the lattice substrates. The ability to design, print, and metallize highly ordered three-dimensional microscale structures could accelerate development of a range of optimized chemical and mechanical engineering systems.

Post-Processing of 3D-Printed Polymers

“…In some papers, 3D-printed parts via stereolithography used this method to coat nickel platinum, copper, and palladium metallic materials. Moreover, the researchers observed that the resulting parts with functionalized surfaces may be used in the fields of electronics such as MEMS, microrobots, metamaterials, as well as other chemical and mechanical engineering systems [141,142]. Jones et al [141] plated palladium onto 3D-printed photopolymers via electroless deposition.…”

“…Moreover, the researchers observed that the resulting parts with functionalized surfaces may be used in the fields of electronics such as MEMS, microrobots, metamaterials, as well as other chemical and mechanical engineering systems [141,142]. Jones et al [141] plated palladium onto 3D-printed photopolymers via electroless deposition. The authors printed cubes containing logpile lattices and a cylinder containing cubic lattices.…”

3D-MID Technology for Surface Modification of Polymer-Based Composites: A Comprehensive Review

“…Electroless plating on plastic is a technologically and chemically complex process. Generally, electroless plating consists of the following steps [ 277 , 278 , 279 , 280 , 281 ].…”

A Numerical model of exchange chromatography through 3‐D lattice structures

“…Printing with the k axis vertical is likely to be best when a h is near the resolution limit of the printer. We have published a report on fabrication methods applicable to a column, 21 and intend to separately report on experimental studies of these structures soon.…”