Thermoplastic composition

Abstract

A thermoplastic composition including a) a thermoplastic resin and b) a laser direct structuring (LDS) additive in an amount of at least 1 wt. % with respect to the weight of the total composition, wherein the LDS additive includes a mixed metal oxide including at least tin and a second metal selected from the group consisting of antimony, bismuth, aluminium and molybdenum, wherein the LDS additive includes at least 40 wt. % of tin and wherein the weight ratio of the second metal to tin is at least 0.02:1.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A process for producing a circuit carrier, comprising the steps of:
 providing a moulded part that contains a thermoplastic composition comprising:   a) a thermoplastic resin and   b) a laser direct structuring (LDS) additive in an amount of at least 1 wt % with respect to the weight of the total composition, wherein the LDS additive comprises a mixed metal oxide comprising at least tin and a second metal that is antimony, bismuth, aluminum or molybdenum,   wherein the LDS additive comprises at least 40 wt % of tin and   wherein the weight ratio of the second metal to tin is at least 0.02:1;   irradiating areas of said part on which conductive tracks are to be formed with laser radiation; and   subsequently metalizing the irradiated areas.   
     
     
         2 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the weight ratio of the second metal to tin is at least 0.03:1. 
     
     
         3 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic composition comprises the thermoplastic resin in an amount of 65 wt % and 99 wt %, with respect to the weight of the total composition. 
     
     
         4 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the LDS additive has a particle size D90 of at most 10 μm as determined by light scattering technology according to ISO 13320-1:1999. 
     
     
         5 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the weight ratio of the second metal to tin is at most 0.2:1. 
     
     
         6 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the weight ratio of the second metal to tin is at most 0.05:1. 
     
     
         7 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic resin has an electrical dissipation factor of at most 0.009 at 2 GHz, as measured according to ASTM D-2520, Method B. 
     
     
         8 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the mixed metal oxide comprises at least 60 wt % of the total weight of tin and the second metal with respect to the total weight of the metals present in the mixed metal oxide. 
     
     
         9 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the mixed metal oxide is antimony tin oxide. 
     
     
         10 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the LDS additive comprises at least 50 wt % of the mixed metal oxide with respect to the total weight of the LDS additive. 
     
     
         11 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic resin is a polycarbonate-based resin. 
     
     
         12 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic composition comprises the thermoplastic resin in an amount of between 45 wt % and 99 wt, with respect to the weight of the total composition. 
     
     
         13 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic composition comprises the thermoplastic resin in an amount of 70 wt % and 97 wt %, with respect to the weight of the total composition. 
     
     
         14 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic composition comprises the laser direct structuring additive in an amount of between 2 wt % and 25 wt %, with respect to the weight of the total composition. 
     
     
         15 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic composition comprises the laser direct structuring additive in an amount of between 5 wt % and 10 wt %, with respect to the weight of the total composition. 
     
     
         16 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the amount of antimony in the thermoplastic composition is less than 700 ppm and the thermoplastic composition comprises at least 10 wt % of TiO 2 . 
     
     
         17 . The circuit carrier obtained by the process according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         18 . An antenna comprising the circuit carrier according to  claim 17 .