Electroless copper deposition using sugar as the reducing agent
Electroless copper plating has been widely used in electroplate printed circuit board and metallising non-conducting components. Electroless plating is based on the reduction of metal ion on the surface of the non-conductor. The reducing agent used, formaldehyde is problematic since it is not...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Final Year Project Report |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS)
1998
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/46948/1/Ng%20Chee%20Heng%20ft.pdf http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/46948/ |
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| Summary: | Electroless copper plating has been widely used in electroplate printed circuit
board and metallising non-conducting components. Electroless plating is based
on the reduction of metal ion on the surface of the non-conductor. The reducing
agent used, formaldehyde is problematic since it is not only toxic and volatile,
but also a carcinogenic substance and poses a threat to workers in the
electroplating industries. Thus, an alternative reducing agent, sugar which
includes glucose and fructose were studied for its possibility to replace
formaldehyde. Five experimental parameters : plating time, bath pH, copper ion
concentration, reducing agent concentration and bath temperature were tested
for the maximum parameters for deposition of copper ion in laboratory-scale
experiments. In five parameters, formaldehyde was tested in similar
experimental conditions with the sugars to compare the efficiency of both
sugars. Ultraviolet spectrum of the bath solution was utilised to confirm the
deposition of the copper ion in solution. The main objective of the project is to
study the suitability of glucose and fructose in replacing formaldehyde and to
determine the optimum conditions for glucose and fructose in copper reduction
for a safer industrial electroless plating process. It was. found out that glucose
and fructose could deposit copper ion from the bath solution at a lesser
efficiency (Efficiency for glucose is 6.675% while for fructose is 7.510%) than
formaldehyde in all experiment parameters. Both sugars formed residues
containing mixtures of copper(I) and copper(II) oxide. Fructose could deposit
more copper ions in parameters such as bath pH, copper ion concentrations and
reducing agent concentrations while more copper ion would be deposited in
parameters such as deposition time and bath temperature by using fructose as
the reducing agent. Fructose has a higher reducing power than formaldehyde
and glucose has a lower reducing power. |
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