PROCESS FOR PLATING POLYMERIC SUBSTRATES

摘要

A process for pretreating a substantially nonconductive substrate such as a plateable plastic or plastic article having an electroless metal deposit on the surface thereof which comprises the steps of conditioning the surface of the substrate to effect an increase in the conductivity thereof with a dilute aqueous acidic solution containing controlled effective amounts of copper, acid and a polyether compound followed by an electrolytic acid copper strike employing a more concentrated aqueous electrolyte containing copper, acid and a polyether compound. The conditioning and electrolytic copper strike steps can be performed without necessitating any intervening rinse steps to provide a conductive basis for subsequently depositing adherent and uniform electroplates such as decorative acid copper or the like.