Abstract:Talcum powder has potential application in the field of conductive fillers preparation because of its particular structure. The conductive talcum powder was prepared by electroless silver plating with the way of silver ammonic solution dipping into the reduction solution with formaldehyde as reductant. The conditions of electroless silver plating for talcum powder were studied. Effects of pH value of the silver ammonic solution, concentration of the silver nitrate and formaldehyde, loadage of the powder and plating reaction time on the powder mass gain of coated silver were discussed. With the aid of FESEM, the morphology of talcum powder after silver plating was characterized; the rate of mass gain and the resistivity of the compacted talcum after silver-plating were tested. On the basis of the above analysis, the best conditions of electroless silver plating on talcum powder are drawn: pH value of silver ammonic solution 11.7, concentration of silver nitrate 10 g/L and that of formaldehyde 13 mL/L, loadage 25 g/L, and reaction time 60 min. Under these conditions, the resistivity of the compacted talcum powder after silver plating was 23.6 Ω×cm.