Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene+20 wt-% polycarbonate (PC)/27 wt-% aluminium flake metallised plastics were immersed in aqueous H2SO4 for chemical roughening. The adhesive strengths of the metallised plastics that were roughened at various corrosion temperatures (30–90°C) for various times (10–30 min) with styrene–ethylene–butene–styrene at various melting temperatures (180–220°C) were investigated. Experimental results indicate that the aluminium flakes reduce the activation energy of the metallised plastics in aqueous H2SO4 at 30–70°C. The roughness and the weight rate of the roughened metallised plastics increase with corrosion temperature and time. Corrosion at 70°C for 10 min yields the largest effective adhesive area and adhesive strength. The adhesive strength increases with the melting temperature of styrene–ethylene–butene–styrene.