Effects of catalyst accelerator on electromagnetic shielding in nonelectrolytic Cu-plated fabrics

The effects of etching and catalyst accelerating conditions on microstructu res of copper films and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effect iveness (SE) of nonelectrolytic copper-plated fabrics were investigated. Co pper films were coated onto polyester fabrics by a conventional nonelectrol ytic copper plating process. Comparison of two etchants had the result wher e uniform deposition of Cu particles in the smaller size was observed using acidic etchant, which provided the better EMI SE than alkaline etchant. We found that KCl was the better catalyst accelerator than commonly used SnCl 2. EMI SEs and conductivities of copper-plated fabrics increased as the con centration of KCl increased up to 0.1 mole/l and then decreased with furthe r addition. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)53608-1] .