Metallization of inert polyethylene terephthalate textile materials: Wet-chemical silvering with natural and synthetic polyamine, part I

Abstract

The wet-chemical functionalization and modification of the inert textile fiber surface of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was metalized by using natural and synthetic polyamine with new coating procedures. The developed wet-chemical procedures in this research are based on the use of short- and long-chain amines, which consist of at least two amine groups, and which are well-suited to form a silver diamine complex. The silvered PET was coated by cationic silver. After the chemical reduction, the cationic silver turns into metallic particles on the surface of PET. The surface morphology, that is, homogeneity of the layer, cracking, casing, and the fiber surface with metallic silver particles was determined by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The particle size, as well as the layer thickness, was calculated by the SIS program. The adhesion characterization of the applied silver layers on the PET was tested by a washing fastness check.