Patent ID: 8318254

Claim:
A method for forming a metal pattern on a substrate, comprising the following steps: a) contacting a surface of a substrate with an ink composition; b) drying the ink composition on the surface of the substrate; c) contacting the surface of the substrate having the dried ink composition with an electroless plating solution, so as to form a metal film on the dried ink composition; wherein the ink composition comprises a liquid phase comprising water as a major portion; and, dissolved in said liquid phase, components (i) and (ii), or component (iii); wherein the component (i) is a sulfate terminated copolymer of an ethylenically unsaturated monomer and a hydrophilic monomer; the component (ii) is a catalytic metal precursor; and the component (iii) is a copolymer of an ethylenically unsaturated monomer and a hydrophilic monomer deposited with particles of catalytic metal, wherein the catalytic metal precursor (ii) is a salt or halide of gold (Au), silver (Ag), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), or ruthenium (Ru); the particles of catalytic metal in (iii) are Au, Ag, Pd, Pt, or Ru; and the copolymer in each of the components (i) and (iii) has a lower critical solution temperature (LCST), which is hydrophilic when temperature is lower than the LCST and becomes hydrophobic when temperature is higher than the LCST.