A method for application of a metal on a substrate comprises a) contacting at least a part of the surface of the substrate with at least one initiator, and polymerizable units with the ability to undergo a chemical reaction to form a polymer, the polymer comprising at least one charged group, wherein the contacting is achieved by contacting a pad with a plate comprising the at least one initiator and the polymerizable units and subsequently contacting the pad with the surface of the substrate, thereby transferring the at least one initiator and the polymerizable units to the surface of the substrate. Subsequently a metal layer is produced on the surface. The compactness of the applied metal layer is increased.

A method of metallizing substrate with abstractable hydrogen atoms and/or unsaturations on the surface, comprising the steps: a) contacting the substrate with a polymerizable unit, at least one initiator which can be activated by both heat and actinic radiation, and optionally at least one solvent, b) inducing a polymerization reaction c) depositing a second metal on an already applied first metal to obtain a metal coating. A first metal is added as ions and/or small metal particles during the process. Ions are reduced to the first metal. Advantages include that the adhesion is improved, the process time is shortened, blisters in the metal coating are avoided, the polymer layer below the metal coating becomes less prone to swelling for instance in contact with water.

A method of creating a selectively plated three-dimensional thermoplastic part. The method includes the steps of: a) providing a film of uncured polycarbonate film having a hardcoated layer on a first surface thereof; b) selectively catalyzing the polycarbonate film by depositing a catalyst in a desired pattern on the first surface of the polycarbonate film; c) thermoforming the polycarbonate film to form a three-dimensional polycarbonate film; d) UV-curing the hardcoated polycarbonate film by irradiating the film with UV rays; e) molding the hardcoated polycarbonate film to produce a three-dimensional molded part comprising the hardcoated polycarbonate film; f) activating the selectively catalyzed hardcoated polycarbonate film; and g) plating a metal layer on the catalyzed portions of the hardcoated polycarbonate film, wherein the plated metal only deposits on the catalyzed portions of the hardcoated polycarbonate film.

A method of manufacturing a conductive laminate includes extracting a long flexible substrate from a roll on which the flexible substrate is wound, forming a to-be-plated layer precursor layer on at least one main surface of the flexible substrate while the extracted flexible substrate is transported in the longitudinal direction, preparing a support, bonding the flexible substrate with a to-be-plated layer precursor layer to at least one main surface of the support, applying energy to the support with a to-be-plated layer precursor layer to obtain a support with a patterned layer to be plated, forming the support into a three-dimensional shape including a curved surface, and performing a plating treatment on the patterned layer to be plated to obtain the conductive laminate having a three-dimensional shape.

A laminate structure of metal coating is laminated on a base material, and includes a primer layer, a catalyst layer and a plating deposited layer. The primer layer is a resin layer with a glass transition temperature (Tg) of 40 to 430 C. The catalyst layer is a metal nanoparticle group arranged in a plane on the primer layer, wherein the metal nanoparticle group is a metal in Group 11 or Groups 8, 9 and 10 in a periodic table, and the metal nanoparticles are surrounded by the primer layer. Ends of the metal nanoparticles are attached to the plating deposited layer.

The substrate for a printed circuit board according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a base film having insulating properties, and a metal layer stacked on at least one surface of the base film, in which the base film includes a portion where a transition metal in group 10 of the periodic table is present. The transition metal in group 10 is preferably nickel or palladium. The portion where the transition metal in group 10 is present preferably includes a region having an average thickness of 500 nm and extending from an interface with the metal layer.

A method of providing a metallically reflective surface on a substrate includes applying a primer layer to the substrate, mixing a solution of silver salt with a reducing agent and spraying the solution onto the primer layer to form a silver layer, and applying at least one transparent or translucent top coat layer or at least one clear coat layer onto the silver layer, wherein the primer contains a corrosion inhibitor selected from the group consisting of benzotriazole, tolyltriazole, benzimidazole, derivatives of the compounds and mixtures of two or more of the compounds and/or derivatives.

A laminate structure of metal coating is laminated on a base material, and includes a primer layer, a catalyst layer and a plating deposited layer. The primer layer is a resin layer with a glass transition temperature (Tg) of 40 to 430 C. The catalyst layer is a metal nanoparticle group arranged in a plane on the primer layer, wherein the metal nanoparticle group is a metal in Group 11 or Groups 8, 9 and 10 in a periodic table, and the metal nanoparticles are surrounded by the primer layer. Ends of the metal nanoparticles are attached to the plating deposited layer.

Devices produced by patterning electroless metals on a substrate are presented. An active catalyst layer on the substrate is covered with a patterned mask and treated with a deactivating chemical reagent, which deactivates the catalyst layer not covered by the mask. Once the patterned mask is removed, the electroless metal layer can be placed to have a patterned electroless metals. Alternatively, a substrate can be coated with a blocking reagent in a pattern first to inhibit formation of the catalyst layer before a catalyst layer can be placed over the blocking agent layer and then electroless metal layer is placed on the catalyst layer. The pattern of the blocking reagent acts as a negative pattern of the final conductive line pattern.

Methods and devices for patterning electroless metals on a substrate are presented. An active catalyst layer on the substrate can be covered with a patterned mask and treated with a deactivating chemical reagent, which deactivates the catalyst layer not covered by the mask. Once the patterned mask is removed, the electroless metal layer can be placed to have a patterned electroless metals. Alternatively, a substrate can be coated with a blocking reagent in a pattern first to inhibit formation of the catalyst layer before a catalyst layer can be placed over the blocking agent layer and then electroless metal layer is placed on the catalyst layer. The pattern of the blocking reagent acts as a negative pattern of the final conductive line pattern.