Mussel-Inspired Biomimetic Surface Functionalization And Metallization Of XNBR And Graphite

Recently, inspired by the adhesive properties of proteins in mussels, the adhesive behaviors of poly(dopamine) have been reported. The results indicated that dopamine (or 3,4-dihydroxy-phenylalanine) and other catechol compounds performed well as binding agents for coating various substrates, including inorganic or organic materials. This method is versatile because of its simple ingredients, mild reaction conditions, and applicability to various materials with complex shape. In particular, the metal binding ability of the catechol and including groups on the PDA molecular structure facilitate the immobilization of the metal ions onto the substrate. This method is versatile because of simple ingredients, mild reaction condition and non-pollution.In this work, suface modification of XNBR and Graphite were carried out by utilizing dopamine self-polymerization and deposition. Electroless plating of silver on the as-prepared surfaces was performed to prepare conductive surfaces. The details of the work are as follows: (1) A novel method for the preparation of electrical conductive surface silvered acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (XNBR) was developed. Dopamine was spontaneously oxide polymerized and deposited onto the surface of NBR. Electroless plating of silver was carried out on the poly(dopamine) (PDA) functionalized NBR (XNBR-PDA) surface. The surface composition of the NBR surface was studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). XPS results showed that the PDA was successfully deposited onto the NBR surface. The surface morphology of the NBR surface was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM images showed that the PDA had formed a distinctive layer ready for electroless deposition of silver. The catechol/quinone groups on the PDA molecular structure can be used as binding sites for silver ions. The silvered NBR showed high surface conductivity of 1.4Ω.(2) Silver/graphite composite was prepared via a facile way. Graphite surface were modified by immersing into the dopamine solution, dopamine would spontaneous deposit on the surface of graphite for self-polymerization under certain circumstance, then silver plating was carried out by an electroless plating method. The structure and elements composition of the silver/graphite composite was determined by XPS and XRD, and the silver plating morphology on the surface was characterized by SEM and EDX. The results of the study indicated that, the silver particles plated on the dopamine modified graphite were compact and consecutive, the electrical resistivity of the conductive of the silver plating graphite was 5×10-3Ω·cm.In conclusion, this paper shows that dopamine is a versatile method to functionalize the surface of substrate materials range from polymers to inorganics with various shapes, and the combination of the following electroless plating technique could prepare surface metalized composites with good adhesion between the metal with the substrate.