Interest of NH3 and N2 plasmas for polymer surface treatment before “electroless” metallization

The electroless metallization of polymers needs an activation of their surface which consists of palladium chemisorption. In this study, the effect of surface treatments of polystyrene and polyamide substrates by reactive gas plasmas (O₂, NH₃, N₂) has been followed by XPS analysis. According to the functional groups grafted on the surface, specific chemisorption reactions can occur. The latter have been highlighted through a comparative investigation of two activation processes, viz. a conventional way using successively SnCl₂ and PdCl₂ solutions and a new procedure, developed by the authors, using only a PdCl₂ solution. This work shows that this simplified process can be extended to any polymer whose surface is grafted with nitrogenated functions.