Electroless plating of carbon nanotubes with silver

A method based on deposition of silver onto carbon nanotubes by electroless plating was proposed to improve interfacial adhesion of composites. Pretreatments such as, oxidation, sensitizing treatment and activation treatment were performed on the carbon nanotubes to improve dispersion, increase the activated sites and lower the deposition rate. The surface morphology of the carbon nanotubes after electroless plating was observed and analyzed by the transmission electron microscope (TEM) and the energy dispersive X-ray analytical system (EDX). It was found that with TEM images the surface of carbon nanotubes can be coated with a continuous layer of silver, which lays a foundation for applying carbon nanotubes in composite materials.