Fabrication and electrical properties of metal-coated acrylate rubber microspheres by electroless plating

Electroless copper plating on micron-scale acrylate rubber (ACM) microspheres was studied. The core-shell structured Cu-coated ACM microspheres with high conductivity and low density were fabricated by introducing a reaction control method. Via multi-times activating treatment, the acrylate rubber (ACM) microspheres were implanted with more Ag catalytic active centers on the surfaces to promote the formation of coatings. The surface-coating structures and the electrical properties of Cu-coated ACM microspheres were investigated. It was found that the Cu-coated ACM microspheres were a kind of elastic particles. The different coating structures could be produced by controlling the extent of plating reaction. The coated microspheres with different coating structures were conductive, and their volume resistivities decreased remarkably with the increasing of applied pressure and varied with the temperature according to their surface coating structures.