Conductive aramid fiber with Ni-Cu composite coating prepared using the metalation swelling method

Conductive aramid fiber with nickel-copper composite coating is prepared by consecutive steps of metalation swelling, sensitization, activation, nickel electroless deposition, and copper electroless deposition, respectively. The metalation swelling of aramid fiber makes the follow-up sensitization and activation feasible. The as-prepared samples are characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD and XPS. After metalation swelling, the aramid fibers look like cotton fibers with numerous nano-scale pits of 50–300 nm in diameter. Pd metal as nuclei for Ni crystal growth with the size of 10±5 nm is originated from Pd2+, which can be reduced to Pd0 by Sn2+. The Ni-Cu composite coating of 1-µm thickness has polycrystalline structure. And the electrical resistance of conductive Ni-Cu aramid fiber is 0.035 Ω/cm. The synthesis mechanism of the conductive aramid fiber with Ni-Cu composite coating is given.