Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) is an engineering composites with excellent performance. After metallization, the metalized CFRP has some unique properties, such as electromagnetic shielding and welding. In this work, the effect of mechanical pre-treatment on the surface structure of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites and on its peel strength of electroless nickel was investigated. A two-step metallization process was used for depositing nickel coating on the composite surface. First, CFRP activated by catalytic solution with a mixture of deionized water, ethanol, 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH550), PdCl2 solution. Second, electroless process was used to deposit a thin nickel layer on the surface. The morphology and phase of the coating were determined by the optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction, respectively. The surface roughness and contact angles of the samples with and without blastsanding were measured by surface profile-meter and goniometer, and the adhesion state of the coating were applied by tape test, respectively. The experimental results show that the average surface roughness of the CFRP surface with and without blastsanding process were 1016 nm and 1935 nm, respectively. The surface roughness significantly increased after blastsanding, which could improve the adhesion of electroless nickel layer.

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer; Electroless; Metallization; Adhesion