Abstract:In order to obtain substrates with good conductive foam for high porosity foam metal materials used in the metal electrodes, the technique of electroless copper plating on the microcellular polyurethane foam with pore size of 0.3 mm was investigated. The main factors affecting the deposition rate such as the solution composition, temperature, pH value and adding ultrasonic were explored. The results show that the optimum process conditions are CuSO₄ 16 g/L, HCHO 5 mL/L, NaKC₄H₄O₆ 30 g/L, Na₂EDTA 20 g/L, K₄Fe(CN)₆ 25 mg/L, pH value of 12.5−13.0 and temperature of 40−50 ℃. Under these technical conditions, the process has excellent bath stability. Adding ultrasonic on the process can elevate the deposition rate of copper by 20%−30%. The foam metal material with a porosity of 92.2% and a three-dimensional network structure, was fabricated by electro-deposition after the electroless copper plating.

Key words: electroless copper plating; microcellular; polyurethane foam; deposition rate; foam metal material