Studies the Effect of Time Sensitization and Activation Process and Electroless Bath Temperature on the Creation of Uniform Coating of Copper Metal on Boron Carbide Particles

Composites constitute a new class of materials، which are mostly used for mechanical and tribological applications. Among these materials، copper deposits with incorporation of hard ceramic particles such as boron carbide (B4C)، combine good mechanical properties (due to the presence of B4C)، with high electrical and thermal conductivity (due to the presence of Copper). The purpose of this study is to apply the copper coating on boron carbide particles by electroless method and study the effect of time of sensitization and activation processes and also electroless bath temperature on the amount and uniformity of the Cu Coating. Times 30، 60 and 80 minute to evaluate the effect of time of sensitization and activation processes has been considered، also temperatures 25،50 and 75 degree centigrade were selected to evaluate the effect of electroless bath temperature on copper deposition of ceramic particles. The effect of time of sensitization and activation processes has been studied using SEM، and the effect of electroless bath temperature has been investigated by XRD، SEM and Atomic Absorbtion analysis. The results showed that the optimum time of activation and sensitization was 80 minutes and the optimum bath deposition temperature at pH 12 and time of deposition 60 minute، was 75 degrees centigrade.