Optimization of Electroless Silver Plating Process on Fabric Surface without Activation and Sensitization

Silver was deposited homogeneously on the surface of polyamide fabric by electroless plating without activation and sensitization. The electroless silver plating process was optimized with the orthogonal array testing strategy. It is found that the optimum conditions are the electroless plating time of 50 min with the concentrations of silver nitrate, sodium hydroxide and ammonium hydroxide being 14 g·L-1, 6 g·L-1 and 130 mL·L-1, respectively. The surface morphologies, compositions, and phases of fabric samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD). The wear-resisting property was tested by friction fastness test machine. The results show that the gain size of silver plating layer is 28.9 nm with the preferred orientation along direction (111) and the good wear resistance.