In this work, a facile "dip & rinse" method for nickel (Ni) electroless deposition on hydrophobic polymer surfaces is reported. The hydrophobic interactions between poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and polymer substrates in an aqueous condition help eliminate the need for toxic and/or harsh surface treatment steps for catalyst adsorption/immobilization. Various hydrophobic polymer surfaces with different geometries and dimensions (i.e., thin sheets and pellets), including low density polyethylene (LDPE), high density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) thin sheets, as well as polyethylene (PE) pellets were tested. In all experiments, Ni was successfully deposited onto these hydrophobic polymer surfaces. Studies showed that, without the PAH, Ni coating was not able to form on any of these surfaces. Kinetic studies on polymer thin sheets examples showed that, with 2 h of deposition, an approximately 2 mu m thickness was achieved. Finally, a prove-of-concept study showed that Ni coated polymer thin sheets can be further electroplated with heterogeneous metal (Cu). An approximately 15 mu m thickness was gained in 1 h of electrodeposition. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.