Preparation of conductive EPDM rubber sheets by electroless Ni-plating for electromagnetic interference shielding applications

In the study, electroless Ni-plating on flexible ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer (EPDM) rubber sheets for the application of an insert block for shielding electromagnetic interference of multi cable transit (MCT) systems was investigated. Ni crystallinity and adhesion have been found to vary with processing parameters such as pH and temperature of the plating bath. It was shown that Ni-films having the high crystallinity and optimum electric conductivity were obtained on EPDM rubber sheets under pH 7 and 8 at 60 similar to 70 degrees C. The conductive Ni-plated EPDM rubber prepared at pH 7 at 70 degrees C showed the enhanced adhesion and electric conductivity, and the high electromagnetic interference shielding effect in the 400 MHz similar to 1 GHz range.