FabricationofaPure, UniformElectroless SilverFilmUsingUltrafineSilver Aerosol Particles

DepartmentofDigitalDisplay Engineering, Hoseo University, Asan 336-795, Republic of KoreaReceived March 29, 2010. Revised Manuscript Received June 9, 2010To obtain evenly distributed pure Ag particles with a narrow size distribution on a polymer membrane, a novelactivation procedure with an environmentally friendly, cost-effective method was utilized as a pretreatment beforeelectroless Ag deposition. The pretreatment was first performed on an untreated membrane surface by collectingultrafine ambient spark-generated Ag aerosol particles. After annealing, the electroless Ag film was fabricated on thecollected aerosol particles in the Ag electroless bath. Experimental characterizations showed that the ultrafine Agparticles were uniformly anchored onto the membrane surface through pretreatment, resulting in a pure Ag film ofclosely packed particles with a narrow size distribution on the membrane, and the properties were comparable to thoseof an Ag film on wet Sn-Ag-activated membranes.