Aspects of additive copper deposition on biodegradable and environmentally friendly PCB substrates (PLA, CA, GPTE-DETDA)

With the increase of e-waste and the amounts of produced commercial electronics, future electronic waste and its processing raises alarming questions. Alternatives emerge for substituting the conventional materials for more environmentally friendly solutions. Our paper presents basic research on printed wiring (copper conductor) deposition aspects on bio-based and biodegradable substrates. Previous studies showed acceptable results on subtractive technologies. However, refined solutions are needed for additive methodologies, improving and optimizing the PCB production technology on such materials. Our paper presents surface analysis of environmentally friendly boards prepared for electrochemical copper deposition with roughness analysis and scanning electron microscope imagery, combined with energy dispersive spectrometry in order to characterize the surfaces and the composition after brushing and activation steps.