A technique of selective electroless plating onto PLA-ABS (Polylactic Acid-Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) composite structures fabricated by three-dimensional (3D) printing is demonstrated to construct 3D microwave metamaterials. The reducing activity of the PLA surface is selectively enhanced by the chemical modification involving Sn2+ in a simple wet process, thereby forming a highly conductive Ag-plated membrane only onto the PLA surface. The fabricated metamaterial composed of Ag-plated PLA and non-plated ABS parts is characterized experimentally and numerically to demonstrate the important bi-anisotropic microwave responses arising from the 3D nature of metallodielectric structures. Our approach based on a simple wet chemical process allows for the creation of highly complex 3D metal-insulator structures, thus paving the way toward the sophisticated microwave applications of the 3D printing technology. Published by AIP Publishing.

中文翻译：

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用于三维微波超材料的 3D 打印塑料结构的选择性化学镀

展示了通过三维（3D）打印制造的PLA-ABS（聚乳酸-丙烯腈丁二烯苯乙烯）复合结构上的选择性化学镀技术，以构建3D微波超材料。PLA 表面的还原活性通过在简单的湿法过程中涉及 Sn2+ 的化学改性而选择性增强，从而仅在 PLA 表面上形成高导电性镀银膜。由镀银 PLA 和非镀 ABS 部件组成的制造超材料在实验和数值上表征，以证明由金属介电结构的 3D 性质引起的重要双各向异性微波响应。我们基于简单湿化学工艺的方法允许创建高度复杂的 3D 金属绝缘体结构，从而为 3D 打印技术的复杂微波应用铺平了道路。由 AIP 出版社出版。