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Plating on acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) plastic: a review

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Abstract

ABS is an engineering plastic that has butadiene part uniformly distributed over the acrylonitrile-styrene matrix. It possesses excellent toughness, good dimensional stability, easy processing ability, chemical resistance, and cheapness. However, it suffers from inherent shortcomings in terms of mechanical strength and vulnerability to environmental conditions. Furthermore, it is non-conducting and easily fretted. Plating on ABS can serve to enhance the strength and structural integrity as well as to improve durability and thermal resistance resulting in metallic properties on the ABS material. ABS is described as the most suitable candidate for plating because it is possible to deposit an adherent metal coating on it by only the use of chemical pretreatment process and without the use of any mechanical abrasion. This article aims to review the history of ABS plastics, properties of ABS, processes and mechanisms of plating, and studies of plating on ABS involving mainly eco-friendly methods of plating by discussing the literature published in recent years. The details of electroplating of ABS carried out in the authors’ laboratory are also presented.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Space Application Centre, ISRO, Government of India with the project ID ‘OGP 103.’

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  1. Centre for Emerging Technologies, Jain University, Jakkasandra Post, Kanakapura Taluk, Ramanagara District, Bangalore, 562 112, Karnataka, India

    Sharon Olivera, Handanahally Basavarajaiah Muralidhara, Krishna Venkatesh, Keshavanarayana Gopalakrishna & Chinnaganahalli Suryaprakash Vivek

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  1. Sharon Olivera
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  2. Handanahally Basavarajaiah Muralidhara
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  3. Krishna Venkatesh
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  4. Keshavanarayana Gopalakrishna
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  5. Chinnaganahalli Suryaprakash Vivek
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Correspondence to Handanahally Basavarajaiah Muralidhara.

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Olivera, S., Muralidhara, H.B., Venkatesh, K. et al. Plating on acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) plastic: a review. J Mater Sci 51, 3657–3674 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-015-9668-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-015-9668-7

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