High energy ion backscattering has been used to study the surface chemistry of the sensitization ( SnCl 2 ) and activation ( PdCl 2 ) processes used to prepare nonconductive substrates for electroless plating. This method of surface preparation is compared to catalysis using mixed Pd‐Sn colloidal solutions. While the redox reaction between divalent Sn and Pd may occur during the activation of sensitized surfaces, it is suggested that any zero‐valent Pd so produced only becomes catalytically active after a significant (∼100 sec) immersion time in the electroless plating solution.
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Ronald L. Meek (1975) studied this question.