Vacuum and ultrasonic co-assisted electroless copper plating on carbon foams

•The influencing mechanism of vacuum and ultrasonic assisted is proposed.•A uniform coating is attained on the surface and inner wall of carbon foam.•The coating thickness can be controlled.•The mechanical properties of copper-coated carbon foam were markedly improved.•The electrical conductivity of copper-coated carbon foam were markedly improved.

The effect of vacuum and ultrasonic co-assisted electroless copper plating on the inner pore surface of mesophase pitch-based carbon foam with an average porosity of 70% was investigated. It has been found that a uniform and compact coating was attained on the surface and the inner wall of foam cells by vacuum and ultrasonic co-assisted chemical plating. The plating rates under intermittent ultrasonic and vacuum co-assisted were about 1.5 times higher than those under traditional stirring. The mechanical and the conductive properties of carbon foam were markedly improved after copper coating. When the copper content was reached to 15.5%, the conductivity of carbon foam was increased from 700 to 1885.8 S/cm, the compression strength was increased from 700 to 1660 kPa, and the Young's modulus was increased from 72.93 to 162.11 MPa.