Studies on Metallization of RP Parts for use in Preserving Artefacts

Abstract

Properties like easy formability, light weight and corrosion resistance constitute natural advantage of plastic over metal. However, there are many areas in which metallic properties are required or demanded due to decorative or technological considerations. It is in these applications that the possibility of metallizing plastics has opened the door to new use for these materials. Metallization is a process in which a non-conductive material such as plastic is made conductive by providing a conductive layer on it. Due to this, possibility of utilizing the advantages of both metal and plastic in combination has been increased. As a result metallized plastic is widely used in fields like oil and gas, automotive industry, electronic industry, chemical processing, textile, aerospace, providing finishes on fashion items such as shoes, name badges, as well as on consumer electronics products including laptop cases and cell phones etc. Plastics such as polysulfone, polypropylene, polythene, teflon and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) can be metalized with different metals like copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), gold (Au), chromium (Cr) and silver (Ag) using variety of processes like brushing a metal paint, spray metal technique, dipping in a metal paint, sputtering, electroplating, electroless plating and vacuum metallization. Among these processes, electroplating is widely used because of its simplicity and economy. In this method, metal ions in aqueous solutions are deposited on the activated plastic surface by an electro-chemical reaction with the aid of an electric potential, forming a thin metallic layer. In this work, possibility of metallization on RP parts through electroplating route has been explored for preserving artefacts.