Characterization of adhesion of copper to poly(tetrafluoroethylene)

An adherent Cu deposition process on polyethylene terephthalate by making use of mechanical roughening, etching, sensitization, activation, electroless plating, annealing and electroplating is explained. Mechanical roughening removes low molecular weight compounds, exposing the true surface of PTFE. Etching with Na naphthalene selectivity defluorinates the surface producing the required roughness. After activation, both Sn and Pd oxychlorides along with Pd-Sn and Pd-Sn3 colloids are present over the surface. Development of Cu coating occurs via nucleation. The face centered cubic structure of the as-deposited Cu becomes columnar after annealing. After electroplating to 20 μm, both Cu(111) and Cu(200) phases were present in equal concentrations.