The present invention provides a method of forming a metal layer on a specific photosensitive resin. The method comprises the following steps: (i) pretreatment: cleaning and pre-activating a surface of the photosensitive resin by using an alkaline solution; (ii) surface modification: soaking the photosensitive resin in a surface modifier to form an organic modification layer; (iii) surface activation: adding catalytic metal ions to form a metal ion complex with the organic modification layer; (iv) reduction reaction: reducing the metal ion complex into a nano metal catalyst by using a reducing agent; (v) chemical plating: soaking the photosensitive resin in an chemical plating solution to form a conductive metal layer; (vi) heat treatment: baking the photosensitive resin at 100-250 C., and (vii) electroplating thickening: electroplating the baked photosensitive resin to thicken the conductive metal layer.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing an electroconductive laminate, which is capable of forming a metal layer having low resistance at a position corresponding to a patterned plated layer, a laminate, and an electroconductive laminate. The method for producing an electroconductive laminate of the present invention includes: a step of forming a plated layer forming layer on a base material using a predetermined plated layer forming composition; a step of subjecting the plated layer forming layer to a patternwise exposure treatment and a development treatment to form a patterned plated layer containing a portion having a line width of less than 3 m; a step of applying a plating catalyst or a precursor thereof to the patterned plated layer using an alkaline plating catalyst-applying liquid containing the plating catalyst or the precursor thereof; and a step of subjecting the patterned plated layer to which the plating catalyst or the precursor thereof has been applied to a plating treatment using a plating liquid containing aminocarboxylic acids to form a metal layer on the patterned plated layer.

Method and apparatus for reducing metal oxide surfaces to modified metal surfaces and cooling the metal surfaces are disclosed. By exposing a metal oxide surface to remote plasma, the metal oxide surface on a substrate can be reduced to pure metal. A remote plasma apparatus can treat the metal oxide surface as well as actively cool, load/unload, and move the substrate within a single standalone apparatus. The remote plasma apparatus can be configured to actively cool the substrate during and/or after reducing the metal oxide to pure metal using an active cooling system. The active cooling system can include one or more of an actively cooled pedestal, an actively cooled showerhead, and one or more cooling gas inlets for delivering cooling gas to cool the substrate.

Provided is a resin composition capable of achieving a higher plating property. The resin composition comprises, relative to 100 parts by weight of a resin component comprising 30 to 100% by weight of a polycarbonate resin and 70% by weight or less of a styrene-based resin, 10 to 100 parts by weight of a glass fiber coated with a sizing agent and 2 to 20 parts by weight of a laser direct structuring additive, wherein the sizing agent comprises at least one selected from a polyolefin resin and a silicone resin.

Provided is a production method for a plated substrate, comprising: providing a photoreactive bonding agent on a surface of a substrate made of glass or silicon; irradiating the surface of the substrate, on which the photoreactive bonding agent is provided, with light to allow the surface of the substrate and the photoreactive bonding agent to be bonded to each other; after the irradiation, removing by washing the photoreactive bonding agent that is not bonded to the surface of the substrate; after the first washing, providing a catalyst that binds to the photoreactive bonding agent; after the catalyst provision, removing by washing the catalyst that does not bind to the photoreactive bonding agent; and disposing a conductive substance on the photoreactive bonding agent by an electroless plating process after the second washing, the catalyst binding to the photoreactive bonding agent.

A coating composition, a composite prepared by using the coating composition, and a method for preparing the composite are provided. The coating composition includes a solvent, an adhesive, and a catalyst precursor including at least one chosen from SnO.sub.2, ZnSnO.sub.3 and ZnTiO.sub.3.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a circuit board. The circuit board comprises: an aluminum-based substrate; an alumina layer formed on at least one surface of the aluminum-based substrate; and a circuit layer formed on the alumina layer. The alumina layer comprises alumina and an element selected from a group consisting of chromium, nickel, a rare earth metal, and a combination thereof.

The pretreatment solution for electroless plating of the present invention is composed of noble metal colloidal nanoparticles, a sugar alcohol, and water. The colloidal nanoparticles are gold, platinum, or palladium, have an average particle diameter of 5 to 80 nm, and are contained in the pretreatment solution in an amount of 0.01 to 10 g/L as metal mass. The sugar alcohol is at least one selected from the group consisting of tritol, tetritol, pentitol, hexitol, heptitol, octitol, inositol, quercitol, or pentaerythritol and is contained in the pretreatment solution in an amount of 0.01 to 200 g/L in total. The electroless plating method of the present invention uses the pretreatment solution and performs the electroless plating in an electroless plating bath.

A process for application of metal on a substrate surface comprises applying a mixture of a solvent, a polymerizable monomer, and a photoinitiator on a substrate surface, wherein the photoinitiator does not form two phases together with the monomer and the solvent, i.e. it forms an amorphous mixture without any crystals. The monomer is able to polymerize to a polymer comprising at least one carboxylic group. Thereafter the solvent is evaporated. Polymerization is induced by irradiating the applied dried mixture. Ions are applied and reduced to metal and thereafter further metal can be deposited. The method can be used in industrial processes, both 2D and 3D surfaces can be coated with metal. Materials sensitive to standard grafting chemicals and/or polymers containing halogen atoms can be coated.

Method and apparatus for reducing metal oxide surfaces to modified metal surfaces are disclosed. By exposing a metal oxide surface to a remote plasma, the metal oxide surface on a substrate can be reduced to pure metal and the metal reflowed. A remote plasma apparatus can treat the metal oxide surface as well as cool, load/unload, and move the substrate within a single standalone apparatus. The remote plasma apparatus includes a processing chamber and a controller configured to provide a substrate having a metal seed layer in a processing chamber, form a remote plasma of a reducing gas species where the remote plasma includes radicals, ions, and/or ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the reducing gas species, and expose a metal seed layer of the substrate to the remote plasma to reduce oxide of the metal seed layer to metal and to reflow the metal.