Metallization of Syndiotactic Polystyrene Resin through Plasma Sputtering

Abstract

Syndiotactic Polystyrene （SPS） has excellent electrical properties, and is expected to be applied to high-frequency circuit boards. We made a study of the formation of a metal layer on a smooth surface of SPS resin through a continuous plasma sputtering process, and examined the effects of the crystallinity of SPS resin and the addition of styrene-ethylenbutylene-styrene （SEBS） on peel strength. We also investigated the mechanism behind increased peel strength using FTIR analysis, XPS analysis, TEM observation and EDS analysis. It was confirmed that a conductive layer with practical peel strength was formed on the smooth surface of SPS resin material, which has low crystallinity and contains a right amount of SEBS as a result of continuous plasma sputtering. It was concluded that new components generated on the surface of SPS material just after plasma treatment, and the existence of metal-resin mixed layer at the interface, contributed to the improvement of peel strength.