Improvement of Plating Characteristics Between Nickel and PEEK by Plasma Treatment and Chemical Etching

Surface of PEEK(poly-ether-ether-ketone) was modified by chemical etching, plasma treatment and mechanical grinding to improve the plating adhesion. The plating characteristics of these samples were studied by the contact angle, plating thickness, gloss and adhesion. Chemical etching and plasma treatment increased wettability, adhesion and gloss. The contact angle of as-received PEEK was $61^{\circ}$. The contact angles of chemical etched, plasma treated or both were improved to the range of $15{\sim}33^{\circ}$. In the case of electroless plating, the thickest layer without blister was $1.6{\mu}m$. The adhesion strengths by chemical etching, plasma treatment or both chemical etching and plasma treatment were $75kgf/cm^2$, $102kgf/cm^2$, $113kgf/cm^2$, respectively, comparing to the $24kgf/cm^2$ of as-received. In the case of mechanically ground PEEKs, the adhesion strengths were higher than those unground, with the sacrifice of surface gloss. The gloss of untreated PEEK were greater than mechanically ground PEEKs. Plating thickness increased linearly with the plating times.