Laser modification of polylactide surface layer prior autocatalytic metallization

The paper presents the results of laser modification as a method of surface layer preparation to autocatalytic metallization of polylactide. Laser modification was performed using an ArF excimer laser with a fluence of 15, 30 or 60 mJ/cm2. The number of 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 laser pulses were used. The effects of laser modification on the geometrical structure, surface wettability, surface energy and chemical composition of polylactide surface layer have been studied. Copper plating was conducted to determine the effectiveness of laser modification as a surface preparation method prior autocatalytic metallization. Studies have shown that the best quality of copper layer was obtained for a sample modified with 10 laser pulses with fluence of 15 mJ/cm2. For the remaining samples modified with higher laser fluence or more pulses deposited layers were inferior quality or did not deposit at all.