Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-019-09002-0 TG‑FTIR coupled analysis to predetermine efective precursors for laser‑activated and electroless metallized materials Piotr Rytlewski 1  · Bartłomiej Jagodziński 1  · Agnieszka Wojciechowska 2  · Krzysztof Moraczewski 1  · Rafał Malinowski 3 Received: 14 April 2019 / Accepted: 1 November 2019 © Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary 2019 Abstract Copper compounds can be used as additives to elaborate polymer materials, which after laser-induced ablation can be directly metallized on the irradiated surface area. In this work, three [Cu(L-tyr) 2 ] n (L-tyr = L-tyrosine) (A), [Cu(bpy) 3 ][CrO 4 ]·7.5H 2 O (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine) (B) and [Cu(bpy) 2 (O 2 SO 2 )]·CH 3 OH (C) copper(II) complexes were evaluated. The complexes were mixed at 20 mass% with polyurethane resin to form the coatings. The coatings were irradiated with ArF excimer laser and electroless metallized. It was found that only complex A was efective metallization precursors. Thermal properties of the copper(II) complexes were considered as crucial for defning efective precursors. TG-FTIR coupled analysis was applied to predetermine thermal properties of the compounds, which can be responsible for efective metallization. It was found that the main reason for unsuccessful metallization of the coatings containing complexes B or C was release of lattice H 2 O or CH 3 OH molecules in crystal structures, respectively, which afected ablation of the coatings. Appropriate model of laser ablation was also proposed. Keywords Copper(II) complexes · TG-FTIR coupled analysis · Polymer coating · Laser modifcation · Electroless metallization Introduction Metallized polymers are used in many applications rang- ing from textile, food packing, sensors to microelectronics [1–3]. These materials can be metallized in two general ways: (1) thin flm vapour deposition and (2) relatively thick metal coating by means of electroless deposition. Electroless metal deposition is one of the most frequently used industrial processes for metallization of polymers. In this method, polymer surface has to be activated to enable reducing metallic ions present in metallization bath. Surface activation, as a pretreatment step for electroless metalliza- tion, consists in deposition of catalyst species on the polymer surface. The most frequently applied catalyst is palladium, but copper, gold and silver are also used [4–6]. Catalysts are deposited mainly by wet chemical means, i.e. by dilute solutions of SnCl 2 and next PdCl 2 or by single process using SnCl 2 –PdCl 2 solution [3]. Despite simplicity, chemical surface activation imparts some signifcant disadvantages like lack of surface selec- tivity (all immersed surface is activated), only relatively large surface area that can be activated, and poor adhesion between deposited metal layer and polymer substrate. These drawbacks can be overcome by implementing laser-induced surface activation method, also known as laser direct struc- turing (LDS) [7–9]. In this technique, laser activation requires application of precursor compounds present in polymer material to be metallized. In the structure of precursor, metal element is incorporated which can agglomerate and form catalyst spe- cies on the laser-irradiated surface (Fig. 1). Various metal–organic compounds were evaluated in order to assess their ability to serve as precursors in LDS * Piotr Rytlewski prytlewski@ukw.edu.pl 1 Department of Materials Engineering, Kazimierz Wielki University, Chodkiewicza 30, Bydgoszcz, Poland 2 Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wrocław, Poland 3 The Łukasiewicz Research Network - Institute for Engineering of Polymer Materials and Dyes, Toruń, Poland