Electroless copper deposition using sugar as the reducing agent

Ng, Chee Hen (1998) Electroless copper deposition using sugar as the reducing agent. [Final Year Project Report] (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Electroless copper plating has been widely used in electroplate printed circuit board and metallising non-conducting components. Electroless plating is based on the reduction of metal ion on the surface of the non-conductor. The reducing agent used, formaldehyde is problematic since it is not only toxic and volatile, but also a carcinogenic substance and poses a threat to workers in the electroplating industries. Thus, an alternative reducing agent, sugar which includes glucose and fructose were studied for its possibility to replace formaldehyde. Five experimental parameters : plating time, bath pH, copper ion concentration, reducing agent concentration and bath temperature were tested for the maximum parameters for deposition of copper ion in laboratory-scale experiments. In five parameters, formaldehyde was tested in similar experimental conditions with the sugars to compare the efficiency of both sugars. Ultraviolet spectrum of the bath solution was utilised to confirm the deposition of the copper ion in solution. The main objective of the project is to study the suitability of glucose and fructose in replacing formaldehyde and to determine the optimum conditions for glucose and fructose in copper reduction for a safer industrial electroless plating process. It was. found out that glucose and fructose could deposit copper ion from the bath solution at a lesser efficiency (Efficiency for glucose is 6.675% while for fructose is 7.510%) than formaldehyde in all experiment parameters. Both sugars formed residues containing mixtures of copper(I) and copper(II) oxide. Fructose could deposit more copper ions in parameters such as bath pH, copper ion concentrations and reducing agent concentrations while more copper ion would be deposited in parameters such as deposition time and bath temperature by using fructose as the reducing agent. Fructose has a higher reducing power than formaldehyde and glucose has a lower reducing power.

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