Aerosol assisted fabrication of metallic film/carbon fiber and heat treatment to form crystalline alloy film Jeong Hoon Byeon a , Ki Young Yoon b , Jungho Hwang b,c, ⁎ a LCD Division, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Yongin 446-711, Republic of Korea b School of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Republic of Korea c Yonsei Center for Clean Technology, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Republic of Korea abstract article info Article history: Received 22 October 2009 Received in revised form 15 June 2010 Accepted 30 June 2010 Available online 8 July 2010 Keywords: Carbon fiber Catalytic activation Pd aerosol nanoparticles Electroless films Sintering Carbon fiber (CF) was catalytically activated with spark generated Pd aerosol nanoparticles. Metal (Ag, Au, Cu, and Pd) and alloy (Ni–P, Ni–Cu–P) electroless films were deposited on Pd aerosol activated CF using a range of deposition parameters including deposition rate in an electroless deposition bath. Sintering was applied to the alloy films on the CF to examine the crystallization behavior at 400 °C in a nitrogen atmosphere. Ni–Cu–P had a higher crystallinity than Ni–P after the treatment. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Metal/carbon fiber (CF) composites have been used in a variety of applications, such as environmental catalysts [1], reinforced materials [2], antimicrobial agents [3,4], electromagnetic interference shielding materials [5,6], radar absorbing materials [7], catalytic graphitizations [8], and composite membranes [9]. The techniques currently used for depositing metal films on fibrous substrates are conducting paints and lacquers, sputter coating, vacuum deposition, flame and arc spraying, and electroless deposition (ELD) [10]. Among them, ELD has advantages, such as coherent metal deposition, excellent conductivity, and applicability to complex-shaped materials or nonconductors. A range of metals, including Ag, Cu, Au, Co, Ni, and some alloys of these metals, can be deposited from an ELD bath [11,12]. The initiation of the ELD process is preceded by surface activation methods to provide catalytic sites (usually Pd) on the material surface [13–15]. Pd nanoparticles act as initiators of the subsequent ELD process. However, conventional Sn–Pd based activations require a long process time, intermittent water rinsing and drying, involve the loss of expensive metal ions, and create environmental pollution problems [16]. Since it is difficult to realize pure catalytic sites with a wet chemical activation method due to impurities inevitably involved, an aerosol activation using spark generated Pd nanoparticles [17] can be used to form catalytic sites on CF surface. This aerosol assisted process was used to effectively form Ag films on CF in a previous study [18]. Also co-deposition of particulate films or substances within the growing layer has led to a generation of electroless composite films [19]. In particular, Ni–P and Ni–Cu–P alloys are used extensively in industry due to their excellent wear and corrosion resistance and some special physical performances, e.g. magnetic properties, solder- ability, and polishability [20,21]. Applying sintering to alloy films produced significant increases in crystallinity and hardness, which contributed to increased electrical conductivity [22] and mechanical strength [20,23]. The crystallization behavior of the as-deposited alloy film and related properties at high or elevated temperatures has become increasingly important in applications of the materials [24]. However, it seems difficult to form crystalline alloy films on CF from amorphous alloy films just by heat treatment because of CF cracking and/or its property change with high temperature over 500 °C [25,26]. Thus, by applying a film property control on the CF it should be possible to avoid unwanted reaction at the interface between CF and alloy film and improve the crystallinity of the alloy film. In our present work, Pd aerosol activation on CF was extensively used for various metals (Ag, Au, Cu, and Pd) and alloy (Ni–P and Ni–Cu–P) electroless films. The alloy films were achieved by co-deposition of the corresponding elements (Ni, P, and Cu) in an ELD bath. Sintering at high temperature (400 °C) in a nitrogen atmosphere, which reduces the risk of cracks of CF or unwanted interface reaction between CF and alloy film was carried out after co-deposition to investigate the crystallization behavior of the as-deposited alloy films. Thin Solid Films 518 (2010) 6839–6843 ⁎ Corresponding author. Yonsei Center for Clean Technology, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 2 2123 2821; fax: +82 2 312 2821. E-mail address: hwangjh@yonsei.ac.kr (J. Hwang). 0040-6090/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2010.06.067 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Thin Solid Films journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tsf