Metallization of Kevlar Fibers with Gold

Abstract

Electrochemical gold plating processes were examined for the metallization of Kevlar yarn. Conventional Sn(2+)/Pd(2+) surface activation coupled with electroless Ni deposition rendered the fibers conductive enough to serve as cathodes for electrochemical plating. The resulting coatings were quantified gravimetrically and characterized via adhesion tests together with XRD, SEM, TEM; the coatings effect on fiber strength was also probed. XRD data showed that metallic Pd formed during surface activation whereas amorphous phases and trace amounts of pure Ni metal were plated via the electroless process. Electrodeposition in a thiosulfate bath was the most efficient Au coating process as compared with the analogous electroless procedure, and with electroplating using a commercial cyanide method. Strongly adhering coatings resulted upon metallization with three consecutive electrodepositions, which produced conductive fibers able to sustain power outputs in the range of 1 W. On the other hand, metallization affected the tensile strength of the fiber and defects present in the metal deposits make questionable the effectiveness of the coatings as protective barriers.

Ag Nanowire Reinforced Highly Stretchable Conductive Fibers for Wearable Electronics

“…[ 21 ] As shown in Figure 1 b, a 100 cm long example of wet-spun 0.56 wt% AgNW-mixed SBS polymer fi ber could be successfully obtained and collected on a long cylindrical-shaped spool. Many of them reported the high-strength conductive fi bers using the electroless-deposited metal on high-strength polymer fi ber, [ 24,25 ] and submicrometer-sized metal tubes using polymer fi bers as a template. Figure 1 c shows a typical cross-sectional fi eld emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) image of the 0.56 wt% AgNW-mixed SBS fi ber.…”

“…Furthermore, we compared our composite fi ber with other conductive fi bers fabricated by the electroless deposition of the metal on polymer because the metal deposited by this method is only existed on the surface of polymer fi ber. Many of them reported the high-strength conductive fi bers using the electroless-deposited metal on high-strength polymer fi ber, [ 24,25 ] and submicrometer-sized metal tubes using polymer fi bers as a template. [ 26,27 ] However, we assume that the electroless deposition method would not be applicable to the stretchable conductive fi ber because the metal layer on the surface of fi ber is physically and easily broken under mechanical deformation.…”

Aqueous and Air‐Compatible Fabrication of High‐Performance Conductive Textiles

“…At the moment, conductive textiles can be readily fabricated by depositing a layer of conductive metals on the textile surface by means of techniques such as galvanic deposition, atomic layer deposition, solution process of Al precursor composite, and electroless deposition (ELD). [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Among these techniques, ELD is particularly attractive because it does not require expensive fabrication devices and can be carried out under ambient conditions on a large scale. [18][19][20] Previously, we have demonstrated the fabrication of conductive textiles by ELD of Cu and Ni onto various textile surfaces that have been modified with a thin layer of polyelectrolyte brushes.…”

Metallization of electrospun PAN nanofibers via electroless gold plating

“…Gold thiosulphate was observed to exist in equilibrium with gold ions and thiosulphate ions as shown in reaction (4). 27 The Au metallization was amenable by reducing Au(I) ions by ascorbate ions on the Ni metalized surface of nanobers through the alteration Au ion to zero valent gold particles via charge exchange reaction. These required electrons for charge exchange reaction were supplied by the reducing agent, however, rst charge exchange process was initiated between the nickel and gold ions by the virtue of dissolution of less noble nickel ions in the gold solution.…”