Selective metallization on glass is widely used in the production of printed circuit boards(PCB),display panels and solar cells. Selective masking and etching steps are used in the traditional photolithographic processes to create the regions of metallization on non-conducting substrates; however, these processes require high-cost facilities and complicated operations. To address these issues, a non-photolithographic process to form metal patterns on glass was proposed and put into practice, which combines self-assembly of aminosilane, desktop inkjet printing of a catalyst ink, and selective electroless plating of Au, Cu or Ni-B alloy on the catalyst template to form desired patterns with a minimal line width of about 200 μm. The adherence of the metal layer deposited on glass is significantly enhanced due to the surface modification of self-assembled aminosilane layer. The non-photolithographic approach could be cost-effective for prototype and small patch of production of metallic patterns, simple electric circuits and other electronic device parts.
