Rytlewski Piotr, Jagodziński Bartłomiej, Karasiewicz Tomasz, Augustyn Piotr, Kaczor Daniel, Malinowski Rafał, Szabliński Krzysztof, Mazurkiewicz Marcin, Moraczewski Krzysztof
Department of Materials Engineering, Kazimierz Wielki University, 85-064 Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Łukasiewicz Research Network - Institute for Engineering of Polymer Materials and Dyes, 87-100 Toruń, Poland.
Materials (Basel). 2020 May 12;13(10):2224. doi: 10.3390/ma13102224.
Selective metallization of polymeric materials using the technique known as laser direct structuring (LDS) is intensively developed. In this technique, metallized products can be manufactured by injection molding or by 3D printing process if rapid prototyping is need. Special additives present in the polymer matrix enable direct electroless metallization only on the surface which was laser activated. This paper presents the results of using copper microparticles introduced into the poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) (ABS) matrix at various amounts (up to about 5 vol %). ABS was selected due to its good processing and mechanical properties and as one of the most common thermoplastics used in 3D printing. The influence of copper on structural, mechanical, and processing properties as well as on the effects of laser surface activation were determined. Two types of infrared lasers were tested for surface activation: Nd:YAG fiber laser (λ = 1064 nm) and CO laser (λ = 10.6 µm). Various irradiation parameters (power, scanning speed, and frequency) were applied to find suitable conditions for laser surface activation and electroless metallization. It was found that the composites tested can be effectively metallized using the Nd:YAG laser, but only in a narrow range of radiation parameters. Activation with CO laser failed, regardless of applied irradiation conditions. It resulted from the fact that ablation rate and thickness of modified surface layer for CO were lower than for Nd:YAG laser using the same irradiation parameters (power, speed, and frequency of laser beams), thus the laser wavelength was crucial for successful surface activation.
利用称为激光直接成型（LDS）的技术对聚合物材料进行选择性金属化正得到深入发展。在该技术中，如果需要快速成型，可以通过注塑成型或3D打印工艺制造金属化产品。聚合物基体中存在的特殊添加剂使得仅在激光激活的表面上能够进行直接化学镀金属。本文介绍了将不同含量（高达约5体积%）的铜微粒引入聚（丙烯腈-丁二烯-苯乙烯）（ABS）基体的使用结果。选择ABS是因为其良好的加工性能和机械性能，并且它是3D打印中最常用的热塑性塑料之一。确定了铜对结构、机械和加工性能以及对激光表面激活效果的影响。测试了两种类型的红外激光用于表面激活：Nd:YAG光纤激光器（λ = 1064 nm）和CO激光器（λ = 10.6 µm）。应用了各种辐照参数（功率、扫描速度和频率）以找到适合激光表面激活和化学镀金属的条件。发现所测试的复合材料可以使用Nd:YAG激光有效地进行金属化，但仅在狭窄的辐射参数范围内。无论应用何种辐照条件，用CO激光进行激活均失败。这是由于在相同的辐照参数（激光束的功率、速度和频率）下，CO激光的烧蚀速率和改性表面层的厚度低于Nd:YAG激光，因此激光波长对于成功的表面激活至关重要。
