In Situ BSA (Bovine Serum Albumin) Assisted Electroless Plating Method with Superior Adhesion Property

The authors report a technique that can deposit metal micro/nano structures irrespective of the type of polymer substrate to obtain electrical conductivity of substrate with in situ solution process. Existing electronic products are made on Si-based substrates, but as newly developed markets such as wearable devices are created, there is a need to manufacture electronic devices on organic-based substrates. In order to meet the needs of this market, studies of fabricating a conducting layer on an organic based substrate are reported, techniques using interfacial layer materials that require a complex synthesis process. Here, BSA (bovine serum albumin) assisted metal deposition technique with simple, and excellent adhesion property of conducting layer, is reported. The chemical principle that BSA activates the catalyst ion of electroless plating is investigated, and the principle of increasing adhesion by cross-linking the catalyst nanoparticles formed in this way is also investigated. In addition, electrical/mechanical characteristics are compared with previous studies, and it is proved that it is a durable and robust technology applicable to flexible electronics.