Fabrication and properties of silverized glass fiber by dopamine functionalization and electroless plating

Highly conductive silver-coated glass fiber (GF) was fabricated in an efficient and environment-friendly way. When the GF powder was immersed in dopamine solution, an adherent self-polymerized poly(dopamine) (PDA) layer was formed on the GF surface. PDA acts as both a linker between GF and silver nanoparticles and a reducing agent for reducing silver ions to metallic silver. The silver nanoparticles can be chemically bound to the catechol and amine functional groups in PDA by electroless plating using glucose as reducing agent. Chemical and physical characterizations of the silver-coated GF were carried out by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Four-point probe was used to study the electrical resistivity of the silver-coated glass fibers. The results indicated that the silver coated on the GF surface was compact, uniform, continuous, and in a metallic crystal state. The silver content could be well controlled from 9.5 to 24 wt% by adjusting the reduction conditions. The electrical resistivity of the silver-coated glass fibers could be as low as 1.0 m·cm.