Patent ID: 8394473

Claim:
A metal-coated polymer article comprising: (i) a polymeric material; (ii) a metallic material having a microstructure which is fine-grained with an average grain size between 2 and 5,000 nm and/or amorphous, the metallic material being in the form of a metallic layer having a thickness between 10 micron and 2.5 cm and a porosity between 0 and 1.0%; (iii) with or without at least one intermediate layer between the polymeric material and the metallic material; wherein said metal-coated polymer article exhibits a pull-off strength between the polymeric material and the metallic material and between any intermediate layer(s) and the metallic material and between any intermediate layer(s) and the polymeric material between 200 psi and 6,000 psi as determined by ASTM D4541-02 Method A-E; and said metal-coated polymer article having a leak rate in air of between 0 and 6.6 mm Hg pressure per hour and per cm 2 measuring area after applying a vacuum of 29″ of Hg and measuring the loss of vacuum over the duration of 60 minutes.