The Study Of Plating Metal On PEEK/Cf Composite

In this study, the chemical etching and electroless plating were mainly analyzed, which are very important in the processing of PEEK/Cf composite electroplating. PEEK (polyetheretherketone) is a kind of thermoplastic resins which has a lot of excellent properties in many fields and can be reinforced by many types of fillers. When it is reinforced by carbon fibers, its strength and wear resistance are improved. Though PEEK/Cf composite has many advantages, its applications are limited just for it is nonconductive. In present, only a few of studies on plating PEEK/Cf composite were performed, which created a continually growing demand for the development of plating PEEK/Cf composite process. So in this work, the metallization of PEEK/Cf composite was studied using the plating method. The metallization of PEEK/Cf composite is formed using the method of electroless plating. Adherence strength is one of the important criterion for the metallization of composite, and the surface pretreatment-chemical etching is the key of the adherence strength, so the effect of chemical etching on the adherence strength is studied from the adherence mechanism. Thermal circle tests are carried out to measure adherence strength so as to optimize the chemical etching conditions. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to analysis the groups of the surface before and after chemical etched. The effects of the different chemical etching conditions on the other properties of the electroless coating such as the growing microstructure, the content of P and so on are studied by the scan electron microscope, X-ray diffraction and the photoelectron spectroscopy. The electroless plating nickel is investigated primarily also. At first, the effects of the formula and process parameters of electroless plating nickel on the deposition rate are tested. An optimal formula is developed through experimental tests. At second, the growing micrographs, microstructure, the content of P and the corrosion-resistance of the coating are analyzed and the growing mechanisms of the coating and the optimal electroless plating time are obtained. Using the same method, electroless plating copper is studied. The effects of the chemical etching on the adherence strength is investigated and the optimal chemical etching condition is obtained. At the same time, the effects of the parameters of the electroless copper on the electrlee deposition and the stability of the bath is tested.