Metallization of Polymeric Substrates by Cold Spray – Is it Possible?

Special attributes of metallic surfaces, such as thermal and electrical conductivity, broaden the engineering applications of metal coated polymers.  Although there are several coating techniques, such as physical vapor deposition (PVD), for metallizing polymers, generally they fail to realize all the potential because of their inherent coating thickness limitations.  Cold spray is an alternative low temperature technique that can produce thick (> 100 microns) coatings on polymers at relatively high deposition rates.  Over the last decade, researchers have attempted at producing cold spray coatings on different polymeric substrates.  In this work, commercially pure copper, aluminum, and tin were cold sprayed on a number of polymeric substrates using CenterLine’s SST SERIES P downstream injection cold spray equipment.  Based on these and other results, this presentation will discuss possible bonding mechanisms, feasibility of success, and potential limitations associated with the technique.