Selective Metallization of 3D Printable Thermoplastic Polyurethanes

Assel Ryspayeva; Thomas David Arthur Jones; Sadeque Reza Khan; Mohammadreza Nekouie Esfahani; Matthew P. Shuttleworth; Russell A. Harris; Robert W. Kay; Marc P. Y. Desmulliez; Jose Marques-Hueso

doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2931594

IEEE Access (Jan 2019)

Selective Metallization of 3D Printable Thermoplastic Polyurethanes

Assel Ryspayeva,
Thomas David Arthur Jones,
Sadeque Reza Khan,
Mohammadreza Nekouie Esfahani,
Matthew P. Shuttleworth,
Russell A. Harris,
Robert W. Kay,
Marc P. Y. Desmulliez,
Jose Marques-Hueso

Affiliations

Assel Ryspayeva: School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Nature Inspired Manufacturing Centre (NIMC), Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, U.K.
Thomas David Arthur Jones: School of Science and Engineering, University of Dundee, Dundee, U.K.
Sadeque Reza Khan: ORCiD; School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Nature Inspired Manufacturing Centre (NIMC), Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, U.K.
Mohammadreza Nekouie Esfahani: Future Manufacturing Processes Research Group, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, U.K.
Matthew P. Shuttleworth: Future Manufacturing Processes Research Group, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, U.K.
Russell A. Harris: Future Manufacturing Processes Research Group, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, U.K.
Robert W. Kay: ORCiD; Future Manufacturing Processes Research Group, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, U.K.
Marc P. Y. Desmulliez: School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Nature Inspired Manufacturing Centre (NIMC), Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, U.K.
Jose Marques-Hueso: ORCiD; School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Nature Inspired Manufacturing Centre (NIMC), Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, U.K.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2931594
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 7
pp. 104947 – 104955

Abstract

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This paper presents a selective metallization method for the newly developed 3D printable thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers (TPU): FilaFlex ®, SemiFlexTM, PolyFlexTM, and NinjaFlex®. Silver nanoparticles were fabricated in-situ by photo-reduction on the surface of TPUs and acted as catalysts for copper ion adsorption. This method demonstrates the successful fabrication of copper patterns on flexible TPU filaments. Furthermore, PolyflexTM and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) filaments printed in the same part have been used to enable selective electroless plating directly on PolyflexTMmaterial. Electroless copper deposited onto PolyflexTMhas a sheet resistance of (139.4 ± 7.2) m Ω /□ and a copper conductivity of (1.1 ± 0.1) × 107 S/m that is comparable with bulk copper. Copper-plated PolyflexTMinterconnects were fabricated as a proof of concept demonstrators.

Published in IEEE Access

ISSN: 2169-3536 (Online)
Publisher: IEEE
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Technology: Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering
Website: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=6287639

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