Electroplating on plastics, like ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene-copolymer), is an established process used for surface refinement and durability increase. It combines the excellent properties of polymers, e.g. light weight and easy formability, and metal coatings, e.g. hardness and stability. To change the isolating character of the polymer surface, a complex pre-treatment consisting of various steps is necessary. These steps involve the use of environmentally hazardous reagents like etching by chromic sulphuric acid.

Additive manufacturing of thermoplastic polymers allows the production of various structures without the need of tools or casting moulds. Transferring the process of electroplating on additively manufactured plastic components is associated with various challenges [1]. Using customized manufacturing parameters and adequate pre-treatment, a homogenous and stable coating is possible. Nevertheless, the process stays more complex and time consuming than for established manufacturing processes and the use of hazardous reagents is still necessary. To overcome these drawbacks, new approaches like the development of novel functionalized composite materials with regard to RoHS compliancy are required.

As a first step towards such materials with a functionalization which supports RoHS-compliant electroplating is the development of an ABS-Al blend. Aluminum (Al) can be etched by sodium hydroxide and offers new perspectives towards the introduction of a suitable surface roughness.

In this work, we show a complete process from the production of the ABS-Al blend from extrusion of the semi-product to additive manufacturing of the final ABS-Al composite product (Fig. 1).

[1] C. Eßbach, D. Fischer, D. Nickel, “Challenges in electroplating of additive manufactured ABS plastics” Journal of Manufacturing Processes, 68A, 1378-1386.