Open Access

ARTICLE

Electroless Deposition of Cu Using Dopamine as Flexible Conductive Materials

Jinliang Luo, Dongliang Li, Yang Li, Miaojiao Wang, Xiaomin Kang, Zhitao Hu^*

College of Mechanical Engineering, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, China

* Corresponding Author: Zhitao Hu. Email:

Journal of Polymer Materials 2025, 42(1), 125-140. https://doi.org/10.32604/jpm.2024.059636

Received 13 October 2024; Accepted 25 November 2024; Issue published 27 March 2025

Abstract

With the rapid development of flexible wearable electronic products, their application fields and demands are increasing, posing new challenges to flexible conductive materials. This paper selected flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as the substrate. In order to enhance the adhesion between the substrate and the metal coating, dopamine and silanization were used to co-modify its surface. A conductive layer of metallic copper is deposited on its surface using an inexpensive, easy-to-use electroless plating technique. By optimizing the process conditions, it is found that a uniform copper layer of about 0.6 μm can be formed on the surface of the substrate by electroless plating at a constant temperature of 45°C for 30 min with a conductivity of 5556 S/cm. The relative resistance changes under different deformation conditions, and the I-V curve of the LED circuit is not very different. Therefore, this paper prepared a flexible conductor with excellent electrical conductivity, high coating adhesion, and good electrical stability under large-scale deformation.

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Keywords

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