In recent years, significant changes have occurred in the field of three-dimensional printing (3D-printing) and it has been applied both in the production of prototypes and in regular production in the following sectors: architecture, construction, automotive, aircraft, biotechnology, fashion, etc. Different technologies for 3D-printing are proposed. Between them, the technology FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling) has the greatest application in the industry due to the low cost and simplified operations. This technology is suitable for 3D-printing of various polymers (PET, ABS, PLA, PETG, etc.), which after preliminary treatment can be metallised by electroless deposition in order to obtain an even metal coating. The present paper describes investigations of some properties of nickel or copper coatings, electroless deposited from two kinds of solutions on 3D-printed and on cast under pressure ABS samples. For deposition of electroless nickel or copper coatings with good adhesion, the influence of the pre-treatment operations was also evaluated in both cases upon deposition on 3D-printed ABS samples with different resolutions (0.8 or 0.25 mm,) and on cast under pressure ABS samples. The thickness of the deposited layers was determined gravimetrically; the morphology and the elemental composition of the layers were examined by SEM or EDS, respectively; the surface roughness of the ABS samples was measured by AFM, and the adhesion of the metal layers was evaluated by a standard test with an adhesive tape (type Test-Method ASTM D 3359-83).

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the etching conditions on some technologically important properties of the Ni-P coating deposited by an electroless process on 3D printed PLA and PLA-flex. The influences of the temperature and the concentration of the etching sodium hydroxide solution on the deposition rate, composition, adhesion, wetting and roughness of Ni-P coatings were determined. The studies revealed that the high temperature and concentration of the etching solution did not improve the coating properties. In regard to the wetting and adhesion properties of the Ni-P coating, the best results were obtained at concentrations of the etching solution from 100 to 200 g L⁻¹ NaOH and at a temperature of 20–40°C. These conditions allow good wetting of the freshly deposited nickel. Etching plays an important role not only in improving adhesion, but also has an effect on the composition and thickness of the nickel layer.

The composite Ni-P coating with diamond particles (D) deposited on the flexible substrates of pressed polyethylene terephthalate material (PET) was obtained, to be used in the development of efficient, flexible grinding and polishing tools. The optimal conditions of the hydrodynamic regime, deposition time and temperature were found. The influence of the concentration and size of the D particles (3/7 ÷ 225/300 μm) on the coating thickness and number of co-deposited particles were studied. By Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images were defined the morphology of dispersion coatings and number of co-deposited particles in them, and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS/INCA) was used to determine the elemental chemical composition of the composite coatings.

One of the widely used plastics for chemical metallisation is acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). It is a strong and flexible plastic, which makes it suitable for the preparation of details with a complex shape and leads to optimum design qualities. Metallised plastics combine the properties of dielectrics and metals, thanks to which they find application in many branches of industry. Before the chemical metallisation of samples, they are subjected to pretreatment, which includes a number of operations. Among them the most important are: etching (surface micro-roughening of the surface) and activation (adsorption of catalytically active metal centres on the surface). Prior to performing the etching operation, the surface of the polymer samples is relatively smooth. In order to increase the roughness of the surface and to facilitate the subsequent operations, an additional operation of “swelling” is included, preceding the etching operation. The influence of the swelling operation on the quality of the final electroless Cu and Ni-P coatings has been studied in the present work. The experimental results show that metal coatings with uniform thickness and good adhesion are obtained.

The aim of the study was to develop a suitable pre-treatment (and more specifically, the etching operation) of 3D-printed PET and PETG samples with different filling densities of the inner layers for subsequent electroless metallization. The influence of temperature, etching time, and sodium hydroxide concentration in the etching solution on the deposition rate, adhesion, and composition of Ni-P coatings was determined. The studies show that a high temperature and concentration of the etching solution do not improve the properties of the coating. The etching not only plays an important role in improving adhesion but also affects the composition and thickness of the nickel layer. It was also established how the degree of filling densities of the inner layers affects the uniformity, penetration depth, and thickness of electrolessly deposited Cu and Ni-P coatings on 3D PETG samples.