Abstract: Conductive ink compositions which can be cured to highly conductive metal traces by means of “chemical welding” include additives which reduce the curing temperatures for use with low-temperature substrates. Conductive ink compositions can be deposited on a substrate coated with a cure temperature reducing agent to reduce the curing temperatures.

Abstract: The present invention provides a yarn with antimicrobial effects. The antimicrobial antifungal effect of the yarn is derived from nanosilver particles (diameter between 1 and 100 nm) which are adhered to the yarn. The yarn contains fibers which are made of cotton, linen, silk, wool, leather, blending fabric, synthetic fiber, or any combination thereof. The yarn can be used to make cloth to be used particularly for treating patients with burns or wound. The cloth made from the antimicrobial yarn can be further used to make clothes such as underwears, socks, shoe cushions, shoe linings, bed sheets, pillow cases, towels, women hygiene products, laboratory coats, and medical robes. The present invention also provides a method for making the antimicrobial yarn.

Abstract: Known methods of improving the solderability of copper surfaces on printed circuit boards present the disadvantage that outer layers of an irregular thickness are formed at the metal surfaces, that these layers are very expensive or that the constituents used in manufacturing them are harmful to the environment. Furthermore, the metal surfaces are to be suited to form bond connections as well as electrical contacts. To overcome these problems there are disclosed a bath and a method of electroless plating of silver by way of charge exchange reaction on surfaces of metals that are less noble than silver, more particularly on copper, that contain at least one silver halide complex and not containing any reducing agent for Ag+ ions.

Abstract: To provide a plating method, which enables wide industrial use of the redox system electroless plating method having excellent characteristics, and a plating bath precursor which is preferable for the plating method. The plating method comprises a process oxidizing first metal ions of a redox system of a plating bath from a lower oxidation state to a high oxidation state, and second metal ions of said redox system are reduced and deposited onto the surface of an object to be plated, wherein a process is provided in which by supplying the electrical current to the plating bath, the first metal ions are reduced from said lower oxidation state to thereby activate the plating bath. The plating bath precursor is formed stabilizing the plating bath so that reduction and deposition of the second metal ions substantially do not occur in order to improve its storing performance.

Abstract: A surface of copper is brought into contact with an aqueous solution for forming a bonding layer for bonding resin comprising: (a) at least one type of acid selected from inorganic acid and organic acid; (b) tin salt or tin oxide; (c) salt or oxide of at least one type of metal selected from the group consisting of: silver, zinc, aluminum, titanium, bismuth, chromium, iron, cobalt, nickel, palladium, gold, and platinum; (d) a reaction accelerator; and (e) a diffusive retaining solvent, so that an alloy layer of tin and the at least one type of metal selected in (c) is formed on the surface of the copper.

Abstract: A conductive paste contains a metal powder as the conductive component, and an organic vehicle. The metal powder is mainly composed of silver, and has an average particle diameter of about 1.5 to 3.5 &mgr;m. The cumulative volume percent of particles of the metal powder which are within the average particle diameter ±0.5 &mgr;m in a particle-size distribution is about 40% or less. The average particle diameter and the cumulative volume percent are measured with a laser diffraction/scattering analyzer. The conductive paste can be used to form inner electrodes of a composite inductor.

Abstract: An electrically conductive paste comprises 80% by weight or more of silver powder and 20% by weight or less of a thermosetting resin. The silver powder has a particle size distribution having two peaks at specific positions. Viscosities of the paste measured under a low shearing stress and under a high shearing stress are in respective specific ranges and the ratio of these viscosities is in a specific range. A cured product obtained by heating the paste has a tensile modulus in a specific range. The paste has thermal and electric conductivities approximately the same as those of solder, shows little change in properties under a high temperature and a high humidity or under cyclic cooling and heating, exhibits excellent workability in coating and can be applied to coating by using nozzles having a wide range of diameters. A reliable semiconductor device is prepared by using the paste.

Abstract: The invention provides methods and kits to form water swellable gel coatings, preferably lubricious coatings, on substrates, and coated substrates thus formed. The coatings contain one or more antimicrobial metals formed with atomic disorder, together with one or more antimicrobial metals formed with atomic disorder such that the coatings provide an antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effect when wet. The invention also provides a method to produce metal powders by sputtering a coating onto a moving surface, and then scraping the coating with one or more scrapers to produce the metal powder. The method is particularly useful for producing large amounts of nanocrystalline antimicrobial metal powders formed with atomic disorder, useful in the water swellable gel coatings of this invention.

Abstract: A process produces a transparent conductive layer forming coating liquid by combining a colloidal dispersion of fine silver particles, a reducing agent and at least one of an alkali metal aurate solution and/or an alkali metal platinate solution to obtain a colloidal dispersion of noble-metal-coated fine silver particles coated with gold and/or platinum. A cation exchanger is added to the combination. The colloidal dispersion of noble-metal-coated fine silver particles is obtained while any impurity ions formed as a result of reduction are removed through the cation exchanger. This process enables the raw-material concentration to be set at a higher concentration than the conventional process to enable production of the transparent conductive layer forming coating liquid at a low cost and a good productivity.

Abstract: A pretreatment solution for providing a catalyst for electroless plating and a pretreatment method using the solution are provided.

Abstract: The object is to provide a transparent conductive layer forming coating liquid capable of forming a transparent conductive layer having such characteristics as high transmittance, low resistance, low reflectance and high strength and with few film defects. The transparent conductive layer forming coating liquid of the present invention is characterized in that it comprises, as its main components, a solvent and noble metal microparticles with a mean particle diameter of 1 to 100 nm dispersed in the solvent, and that the above-mentioned solvent comprises 0.005 to 1.0 wt % of formamide (HCONH2). Further, using this transparent conductive layer forming coating liquid, it is possible to form a conductive layer with developed meshy structures easily so that it can form transparent conductive layers having such characteristics as high transmittance, low resistance, low reflectance and high strength and with few film defects.

Abstract: The transparent conductive film of the present invention is formed to have a conductive layer containing at least ruthenium fine particles, gold fine particles and silver fine particles, the weight ratio of ruthenium fine particles and gold fine particles in the conductive layer being within the range of 40:60 to 99:1. As a result, this transparent conductive film and a display device having this transparent conductive film have superior electromagnetic wave shielding effects and anti-reflection effects, high chemical stability and superior visibility.

Abstract: The invention concerns a process for the deposition of a silver-tin alloy from an acidic, cyanide-free electrolyte, containing silver ions, tin ions as well as a complexing agent. In order to provide a process which, despite the great differential of potential between silver and tin, makes it possible to simultaneously precipitate both metals to form well-adhering layers which, in addition, have a smooth, matte to silky surface and which are easily soldered, the invention involves the use of, as a further component an aromatic compound with an aldehyde group added to the electrolyte.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a transparent conductive layered structure having a transparent substrate and a transparent conductive layer and transparent coating layer formed in succession on this substrate, used in, for instance, the front panel of CRT, etc., display devices. The main components of said transparent conductive layer are noble metal microparticles with a mean particle diameter of 1 to 100 nm, wherein the microparticles are made from gold and/or platinum and silver and the gold and/or platinum content is within a range exceeding 50 wt % up to 95 wt %, and a binder matrix.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a chemical solution for forming a silver film on a substrate. This chemical solution has (1) an ammoniac silver nitrate solution; (2) a reducing solution containing a reducing agent and a base component; and (3) an additive containing a compound of a polyvalent metal. This additive is contained in at least one of the ammoniac silver nitrate solution and the reducing solution. The present invention further relates to a process for forming a silver film on a substrate, using the chemical solution. This process includes (a) bringing a hydrochloric acid acidified stannous chloride solution into contact with a surface of the substrate, thereby conducting a pretreatment of the surface; (b) bringing another ammoniac silver nitrate solution into contact with the surface of the substrate; and (c) bringing the ammoniac silver nitrate solution into contact with the reducing solution, on the surface of the substrate, thereby forming the silver film.

Abstract: The method of precoating surfaces to be brazed without the use of corrosive flux by the application of a mixture of silver particulates, binder and solvent followed by solvent evaporation and heating for depolymerization of the binder. The heating results in a silver film formed on the surface prior to brazing.

Abstract: A multi-coating step immersion coating process for producing a coating of a noble metal on a non-noble metal substrate, wherein the noble metal is of a predetermined amount expressed as a percent of the total weight of coated product, and wherein the non-noble metal substrate is in the form of fine particles or a powder is disclosed. The process also utilizes inter-plating step and post-plating step rinsing step sequences which together with the use of the plurality of coating steps consistently results in high quality product having a uniform coating, excellent corrosion resistance and excellent electrical conductivity. Use of the coated products produced according to the process in a variety of electrically conductive compositions, including plastics, adhesives and inks, and in plastic and resin based electromagnetic shielding materials is also disclosed.

Abstract: A method for enhancing the solderability of a metallic surface is disclosed where the metallic surface is plated with an immersion silver plate prior to soldering, which immersion silver plate is treated with an additive selected from the group consisting of fatty amines, fatty amides, quaternary salts, amphateric salts, resinous amines, resinous amides, fatty acids, resinous acids, ethoxylated derivatives of any of the foregoing, and mixtures of any of the foregoing. The immersion silver deposits created are resistant to electromigration.

Abstract: An aqueous solution for obtaining a noble metal by chemical reduction containing at least one water-soluble compound or complex of a metal selected from the group consisting of gold, platinum, silver, and palladium as a source of the metal to be deposited, and at least one mercapto compound or sulfide compound or a salt thereof as a reducing agent. The reducing agent is typically mercaptoacetic acid, 2-mercaptopropionic acid, 2-aminoethanethiol, 2-mercaptoethanol, glucose cysteine, 1-thioglycerol, sodium mercaptopropanesulfonate, N-acetylmethionine, thiosalicylic acid, 2-thiazoline-2-thiol, 2,5-dimercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole, 2-benzothiazolethiol, or 2-benzimidazolethiol. They may be used singly or in combination.

Abstract: An aqueous solution for the reductive deposition of metals comprising, besides water, (A) a phosphine of the general formula (1)  in which R1, R2, and R3 denote lower alkyl groups, at least one of which being hydroxy-or amino-substituted lower alkyl group, and (B) a soluble compound of a metal or a compound of a metal solubilized through the formation of a soluble complex by said phosphine.