1 THE EFFECTS OF AUTOCATALYST COPPER COATING OF SIC P ON THE MICROSTRUCTURE OF CUSIC P COMPOSITES. K. Azmi, D. M. Nazree, S. S. Rizam, M. N. Mazlee, J.A.H. Iqwan School of Materials Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Kompleks Pusat Pengajian Jejawi 2, 02600 Arau, Perlis. Email: azmikamardin@unimap.edu.my Abstract In this paper, the autocatalyst copper coating (ACC) of silicon carbide particle (SiC p ) was performed after a sequence of surface treatment, sensitization and surface activation processes. The ACC process was operated at pH of 12.5 and 75 o C. Later, the copper coated SiC p were mixed with copper powders at 20 vol.% and sintered at 1025 o C for 0.5, 2 and 4 hours under a controlled argon atmosphere. The composition and microstructure of the copper deposited layer were examined by means of energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) respectively. The experiment shows that the ACC process gives an excellent copper plating coverage with uniform plating thickness on the SiC p . More importantly, the copper coated layer manages to control the interfacial reactions between the SiC reinforcement and copper matrix. Keywords: Autocatalyst copper plating, silicon carbide reinforced copper matrix composites, interfacial interaction. 1. Introduction The demand for thermal management materials with high thermal conductivity and low CTE has put a lot of focus on the metal-ceramic composites with high ceramic contents [1-3]. A good thermal conductivity and low CTE composite can be achieved by blending high thermal conductivity metal such as copper with low CTE ceramics such as silicon carbide. Unfortunately, despite so many experimental studies, the development of CuSiC p composite is still slow. One of the key limiting factors in the development of CuSiC p composite is the uncontrolled interfacial reactions between the reinforcement and metal phases which lead to the degradation of the thermal and electrical properties. In order to control the interfacial reaction, a layer of barrier must be developed to minimize the inter-phases atomic diffusion between the matrix and reinforcement layers. This barrier can be developed via coating techniques such as autocatalyst (electroless) coating, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), metal sputtering and electroplating. Autocatalyst metal coating (AMC) is simple, low cost and easy to use as compared to more expensive CVD and metal sputtering techniques. AMC has been widely used for creating a protective metallic coating against corrosion, wear resistance and electromagnetic interference (EMI). In the present study, autocatalyst copper coating (ACC) on SiC p was developed in a plating bath containing copper (II) sulfate as the source of copper ions and formaldehyde as the reducing agent at pH 12.5 and 75 o C.