• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.574-580
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• 2022

While in the process of electroless plating of dendrite-shape copper with silver, various silver-coated copper (Ag@Cu) particles were prepared by using both displacement plating and reducing electroless plating. The physicochemical properties of Ag@Cu particles were analyzed by scanning electron microscope- energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis (BET), and it was confirmed that the silver coated by the reducing electroless plating was formed as nano-particles on the copper surface. Ag@Cu particles were compounded with an epoxy resin to prepare a conductive film, and its thermal stability was evaluated. We investigated the effect of the difference between the displacement plating and reducing electroless plating on the initial resistance and thermal stability of conductive films.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.215-221
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• 2017

The electroless plating process largely consists of substrate cleaning, seed formation (activator formation), and electroless plating. The most widely used activator in the seed formation step is Pd, and Sn ions are used to facilitate the formation of this Pd seed layer. This is problematic because the Sn ions interfere with the reduction of Cu ions during electroless plating; thus, the Sn ions must be removed by a hydrochloric acid cleaning process. This method is also expensive due to the use of Pd. In this study, Cu electroless plating was performed by forming a seed layer using a silver nanosol instead of Pd and Sn. The effects of the Ag nanosol concentration in the pretreatment solution and the pretreatment time on the thickness and surface morphology of the Cu layer were investigated. The degrees of adhesion to the substrate were similar for the electroless-plated Cu layers formed by conventional Pd activation and those formed by the Ag nanosol.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.275-281
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• 2014

An ultrasound-assisted Sn-Ag-Pd activation method for electroless copper plating was presented in this study. With this activation process, it was shown that the fine catalyst particles were homogeneously distributed with high density on the entire specimen. In addition, it was observed that incubation period occurred during the electroless plating step was decreased owing to the absorption of Ag which holds high catalytic activity. Resulting from the refinement and high densification of catalyst, the defect-free gap-fill was achieved within the 20x nm trench.

• 한국태양에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.350-355
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• 2009

The crysralline silicon solar cell where the solar cell market grows rapidly is occupying of about 85% or more high efficiency and low cost endeavors many crystalline solar cells. The fabricaion process of high efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells necessitate complicated fabrication processes and Ti/Pd/AG contact, This metal contacts have only been used in limited areas in spite of their good srability and low contact resistance because of expensive materials and process. Commercial solar cells with screen-printed solar cells formed by using Ag paste suffer from loe fill factor and high contact resistance and low aspect ratio. Ni and Cu metal contacts have been formed by using electroless plating and light-induced electro plating techniques to replace the Ti/Pd/Ag and screen-printed Ag contacts. Copper and Silver can be plated by electro & light-induced plating method. Light-induced plating makes use the photovoltaic effect of solar cell to deposit the metal on the front contact. The cell is immersed into the electrolytic plating bath and irradiated at the front side by light source, which leads to a current density in the front side grid. Electroless plated Ni/ Electro&light-induced plated Cu/ Light-induced plated Ag contact solar cells result in an energy conversion efficiency of 16.446 % on 0.2~0.6${\Omega}$ cm, $20{\times}20mm^2$, CZ(Czochralski) wafer.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.29 no.1 s.139
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• pp.149-156
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to produce the high quality of electromagnetic wave shielding fabrics. In this study, we have produced polyester fabrics by electroless Ag plating. The untreated polyester was etched with $4\%$ NaOH solution added accelerant(Benzyl Dimethyl Dodecyl Ammonium Chloride) then it was catalyzed by $SnCl_2$ solution and activated by $PdCl_2$ solution. Electroless Ag plating was carried out by changing conditions such as temperature. time, weight loss rate of polyester and kind of reducing agents. The electromagnetic wave shielding effectiveness of polyester fabric by electroless Ag plating was measured by RF Impedance Analyzer and element of electromagnetic wave shielding substance was measured using Electron probe micro analyzer. The results were as follows; The plating bath using potassium sodium tartrate by reducing agent was excellent electromagnetic wave shielding effectiveness. Element of electromagnetic wave shielding substance was silver. Electromagnetic wave shielding effectiveness was shown over 64dB at the temperature of $40^{\circ}C$, treating time 30min., weight loss rate $20\%$.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.219-225
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• 2013

In this study, the tribological characteristics of silver films that were deposited on a glass substrate by electroless plating were investigated. The electroless-plating method has many notable advantages. It is easy and economical to obtain solid films using this coating process, and it can be applied to both nonconducting and conducting substrates. In this study, silver was selected as the electroless-plating material because it is one of the most common materials used as a solid lubricant. The mechanical properties of silver electroless-plated specimens were investigated for various coating conditions. The thickness of the coating could be controlled by varying the electroless-plating time. The properties of the coatings were investigated using AFM, SEM, and a tribotester.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.632-638
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• 2014

We investigated the effects of DMAB (Borane dimethylamine complex, C2H10BN) in electroless Ni-B film with addition of DMAB as reducing agent for electroless Ni plating. The electroless Ni-B films were formed by electroless plating of near neutral pH (pH 6.5 and pH 7) at $50^{\circ}C$. The electroless plated Ni-B films were coated on screen printed Ag pattern/PET (polyethylene terephthalate). According to the increase of DMAB (from 0 to 1 mole), the deposition rate and the grain size of electroless Ni-B film increased and the boron (B) content also increased. In crystallinity of electroless Ni-B films, an amorphization reaction was enhanced in the formation of Ni-B film with an increasing content of DMAB; the Ni-B film with < 1 B at.% had a weak fcc structure with a nano crystalline size, and the Ni-B films with > 5 B at.% had an amorphous structure. In addition, the Ni-B film was selectively grown on the printed Ag paste layer without damage to the PET surface. From this result, we concluded that formation of electroless Ni-B film is possible by a neutral process (~green process) at a low temperature of $50^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.29-34
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• 2020

The behavior of brittle fracture of electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) /Sn-3.0wt.%Ag-0.5wt.%Cu (SAC305) solder joints was evaluated. The pH of the electroless nickel plating solution for ENIG surface treatment was changed from 4.0 to 5.5. As the pH of the Ni plating solution increased, pin hole in the Ni-P layer increased. The thickness of the interfacial intermetallic compound (IMC) of the solder joint increased with pH of Ni plating solution. The high speed shear strength of the SAC305 solder joint on ENIG surface finish decreased with the pH of the Ni plating solution. In addition, the brittle fracture rate of the solder joint was the highest when the pH of the Ni plating solution was 5.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.397-402
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• 2017

We used an etching process to control the line-width of screen printed Ag paste patterns. Ag paste was printed on anodized Al substrate to produce a high power LED. In general, Ag paste spreads or diffuses on anodized Al substrate in the process of screen printing; therefore, the line-width of the printed Ag paste pattern increases in contrast with the ideal line-width of the pattern. Smudges of Ag paste on anodized Al substrate were removed by neutral etching process without surface damage of the anodized Al substrate. Accordingly, the line-width of the printed Ag paste pattern was controlled as close as possible to the ideal line-width. When the etched Ag paste pattern was used as a seed layer for electroless Ni plating, the line width of the plated Ni film was similar to the line-width of the etched Ag paste pattern. Finally, in pattern formation by Ag paste screen printing, we found that the accuracy of the line-width of the pattern can be effectively improved by using an etching process before electroless Ni plating.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.250-253
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• 2007

An evaporated Ti/Pd/Ag contact system is most widely used to make high-efficiency silicon solar cells, however, the system is not cost effective due to expensive materials and vacuum techniques. Commercial solar cells with screen-printed contacts formed by using Ag paste suffer from a low fill factor and a high shading loss because of high contact resistance and low aspect ratio. Low-cost Ni and Cu metal contacts have been formed by using electroless plating and electroplating techniques to replace the Ti/Pd/Ag and screen-printed Ag contacts. Ni/Cu alloy is plated on a silicon substrate by electro-deposition of the alloy from an acetate electrolyte solution, and nickel-silicide formation at the interface between the silicon and the nickel enhances stability and reduces the contact resistance. It was, therefore, found that nickel-silicide was suitable for high-efficiency solar cell applications. The Ni contact was formed on the front grid pattern by electroless plating followed by anneal ing at $380{\sim}400^{\circ}C$ for $15{\sim}30$ min at $N_{2}$ gas to allow formation of a nickel-silicide in a tube furnace or a rapid thermal processing(RTP) chamber because nickel is transformed to NiSi at $380{\sim}400^{\circ}C$. The Ni plating solution is composed of a mixture of $NiCl_{2}$ as a main nickel source. Cu was electroplated on the Ni layer by using a light induced plating method. The Cu electroplating solution was made up of a commercially available acid sulfate bath and additives to reduce the stress of the copper layer. The Ni/Cu contact was found to be well suited for high-efficiency solar cells and was successfully formed by using electroless plating and electroplating, which are more cost effective than vacuum evaporation. In this paper, we investigated low-cost Ni/Cu contact formation by electroless and electroplating for crystalline silicon solar cells.