Shin, Ari Kim, Bong-Kyu Kim, Minkyoung Jeong, Minkyung Lee, Donggil Ha, Hyunwoo Lee, Soo Yeol Kim, Chunjoong Park, Soohyung Kim, Hyun You Nam, Chang-Yong Han, Jun Hyun 2024-01-12T02:32:47Z 2024-01-12T02:32:47Z 2022-12-13 2023-02 0254-0584 https://pubs.kist.re.kr/handle/201004/75826 Acid treatment is the most widely used surface modification method for enhancing the electroless metal depo-sition (EMD) on carbon reinforcement materials (CRMs) for metal matrix nanocomposites. However, specific microstructural and physicochemical origins of the enhanced EMD on carbon surfaces by acid treatments have been rarely studied. Here, we investigated the effects of the nitric acid treatment on graphite, a prototypical combination of acid treatment and CRM, on the fidelity of Cu EMD and their structural and chemical origins. Complementary materials characterizations and density functional theory calculations revealed the acid-induced formation of broken C-C/C--C graphitic bonds and resulting surface micropores on graphite; this enabled a uniform dispersion of catalytic Sn/Pd nanoparticles during pre-EMD sensitization/activation processes via spontaneous binding of Sn and Pd ions and, consequently, a much more uniform Cu layer EMD compared to the untreated graphite. We proposed a general mechanism illustrating how the acid-induced microstructural and chemical modifications of carbon surface affected the spatial uniformity of catalytic metal reduction during EMD and, finally, the quality of deposited metal layer. The results clearly reveal the origins of the enhanced EMD on carbon materials by acid treatments, providing guidelines for optimizing EMD on general CRMs for high-performance metal matrix nanocomposites. English Elsevier BV Microstructural and physicochemical origins of electroless copper deposition on graphite enhanced by acid pretreatment Article 10.1016/j.matchemphys.2022.127118 1 Materials Chemistry and Physics, v.295 Materials Chemistry and Physics 295 N scie scopus 000898880100006 Materials Science, Multidisciplinary Materials Science Article CARBON NANOTUBES THERMAL-CONDUCTIVITY CHEMICAL OXIDATION FUNCTIONAL-GROUPS HEAT-TREATMENT COMPOSITES FABRICATION MECHANISM FIBERS NICKEL Carbon Acid treatment Electroless metal deposition Metal matrix nanocomposite