Electroless Nickel Plating Method Research Articles

(Digital Presentation) A Design of Nickel/Sulfur Energy-Storage Materials for Electrochemical Lithium-Sulfur Cells

Introduction As one of the next-generation rechargeable battery technologies beyond the lithium-ion chemistry, the lithium-sulfur chemistry enables the low-cost sulfur cathode to generate a high theoretical capacity of 1,675 mAh g-1 (10 times higher capacity than those of lithium-ion battery cathode). It further exhibits a high theoretical energy density of 2,600 Wh kg-1 in lithium-sulfur batteries (2–3 times higher energy density than lithium-ion batteries). However, as reported in recent publications, the development is far from adequate with respect to the high-loading sulfur cathode with high active-material content in building advanced lithium-sulfur batteries with a high energy density. The material challenges result from the use of an insulating sulfur as the active material, which would generate lithium polysulfides that can easily diffuse out from the cathode. The high cathode resistance and fast loss of the active material lead to the poor electrochemical utilization and efficiency of lithium-sulfur battery cathodes. These negative impacts subsequent derive the additional electrochemical challenges. A high amount of conductive and porous substrates is added in the cathode to replace the active material, which results in the limited amount of sulfur in the cathode and further blocks the improvement of designing high-energy-density sulfur cathodes.To address the above-mentioned issues, the research progresses of high-performance sulfur cathodes aim to design functional host for sulfur cathodes with the use of carbon for high conductivity, polymers for high ionic transfer, porous materials for physical polysulfide retention, polar materials for chemical polysulfide adsorption, catalysts for high reaction kinetics, etc. However, metallic materials that naturally have high conductivity, strong polysulfide adsorption capability, and catalytic conversion ability, are rarely reported. This is because metals have the highest density as compared to the aforementioned host materials, which commonly causes an insufficient amount of active material in the cathode and therefore inhibits the design of metal-sulfur nanocomposite in sulfur cathodes.To explore the metal/sulfur nanocomposite as a new research trend in sulfur cathodes, we propose a design for a nickel/sulfur nanocomposite as a novel energy-storage material by the electroless nickel plating method, and discuss its applications in lithium–sulfur battery cathodes. The nickel/sulfur energy-storage material possesses metallic nickel on the surface of the insulating sulfur particles as a result of the reduction of nickel ions during autocatalytic plating. By controlling the synthesis and fabrications conditions, the nickel/sulfur energy-storage material attains adjustable high sulfur contents of 60–95 wt% and adjustable high sulfur loadings of 2–10 mg cm−2 in the resulting cathode. The high-loading cathode with the nickel/sulfur energy-storage material demonstrates high electrochemical utilization and stability, which attains a high areal capacity of 8.2 mA∙h cm−2, an energy density of 17.3 mW∙h cm−2, and a stable cyclability for 100 cycles. Results and Discussion Here, in our presentation, we discuss our novel method for the fabrication of nickel/sulfur energy-storage material as an advanced composite cathode material for exploring battery electrochemistry and battery engineering. We adopt a modified electroless-plating method to synthesize nickel/sulfur energy-storage materials characterized by adjustable high sulfur contents and promising cathode performance. The plated nickel coating provides the nickel/sulfur energy-storage materials with metallic conductivity and polysulfide adsorption ability, which addresses the two major issues of sulfur cathodes.[1,2] Therefore, the nickel/sulfur energy-storage material attains high sulfur contents in the cathode and exhibits a high charge-storage capacity of 1,362 mA∙h g−1 and an excellent cyclability for 100 cycles. Moreover, the nickel/sulfur energy-storage material enables high-loading sulfur cathodes with a sulfur loading of 10 mg cm−2, a high areal capacity of 8.2 mA∙h cm−2, and an energy density of 17.3 mW∙h cm−2. Conclusion In summary, the summary of our nickel/sulfur energy-storage materials presented in this presentation would demonstrate a light-weight metallic nickel coating technique for fast charge transfer and strong polysulfide retention in the sulfur nanocomposites composite sulfur cathode. Moreover, our systematic analysis of the nickel/sulfur energy-storage materials exhibits their achievements in attaining both high electrochemical designs of high sulfur content and loading as well as possessing high energy density and electrochemical stability. References C.-S. Cheng, S.-H. Chung, Chem. Eng. J. 2022, 429, 132257.C.-S. Cheng, S.-H. Chung, Batter. Supercaps 2022, 5, e202100323.

Corrosion Prevention of Metals via Electroless Nickel Coating: A review

Electroless coating is a chemical process that involves an autocatalytic response of the constituents in an aqueous mixture. It also involves multiple simultaneous reactions, with nongalvanic excitation, that causes the formation of thin film layers i.e. the coating, on the substrate of the material. The reduction of metallic ions required to coat the surface of the metal occurs dues to the reducing agent in that same compound, which supplies an intrinsic potential difference to allow current flow. This follows by the need for the cations of the deposition metal to be reduced by electrons receiving them at the substrate, electrons which the reductant also donates to this surface thereby undergoing oxidation. The most generally used electroless plating technique is the electroless nickel plating method, which involves the deposition of un-crystallized nickel alloy on the substrate, with even thickness regardless of the shape and form of the material due to its independence on current. The paper reviews the tribo-corrosion resistances, mechanical properties and conductivity of electroless nickel coatings.

Depositing reduced graphene oxide on electroless plating Ni/organic polymer fibrous membrane for flexible supercapacitors

The flexible supercapacitors (FSCs) have attracted much attention with the development of personal electronics. Here, the polyethylene-polypropylene fibrous membranes (PE-PPFMs) are used as the substrate to prepare conductively metallized organic films (Ni/PE-PPFMs) by employing electroless nickel plating method. After graphene oxide (GO) dispersion is coated on the substrate of Ni/PE-PPFMs, electrochemical reduction is carried out to reduce GO and the electrodes of ErGO/Ni/PE-PPFMs have been obtained. The preparation conditions have been optimized and the electrodes have also been characterized in detail. The capacitive performances of the electrodes are evaluated by assembling the FSCs with the NaOH/polyvinyl alcohol (NaOH/PVA) as the gel electrolyte. The specific capacitance of the optimized electrode can reach 368.2 mF cm−2 (147.3 F g−1 based on the active materials), and the maximum energy density of the cell can reach 16.2 μWh cm−2 (or 3.2 Wh kg−1) when the power density is 0.24 mW cm−2 (48 W kg−1). Meanwhile, the cell exhibits excellent cyclic stability (the capacitance retention can still keep at 89.5% after 10,000 cycles) and flexibility (84.4% capacitance retention after 5500 bending cycles). This strategy provides a simple and environmentally friendly method to prepare flexible rGO-based electrodes.

Effects of electroless nickel plating method for low temperature joining ZnS ceramics

ZnS has been widely used as a material for windows in optical systems. This is because it has a good transmittance in both mid-infrared and far-infrared bands, a stable chemical performance, a moderate linear thermal expansion coefficient and an adequate mechanical strength. ZnS windows need the so-called splice technology implementation to satisfy the integrity of large size applications or special surface structures. Traditional ZnS light windows are mechanically assembled with metal frames. However, the strength of the large-size ZnS formed by mechanical assembly is low. Consequently, an adequate joining technology is needed to overcome the low splice strength and improve the mechanical strength of the assembly. In this paper, we proposed a pre-metallization method by using an electroless plating of Ni on ZnS surface. Subsequently, a low temperature joining by using a Sn63Pb37 solder was completed. By a study of the process and the corresponding mechanism of the electroless nickel plating, a Ni–P layer with a controllable P content and thickness has been formed, and a smooth surface and a good combination with ZnS has been obtained. The microstructure of the Sn63Pb37 and Ni–P/ZnS was analyzed, and the phase composition and element distribution within the joint were determined. The influences of process parameters on the microstructures of the joints have been explored, including the brazing temperature, the time of thermal energy preservation and the thickness of the coating. Finally, the shear strengths of joints under different imposed parameters were optimized leading to the peak soldering temperature of 250 °C and the dwell at the peak of 1 min. The fractures were along Ni–P/ZnS ceramic interface, therefore, a successfully low temperature joining process on ZnS ceramics using Ni–P plating and Sn63Pb37 solder had been performed.

Effect of electroless nickel plating on electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness of pitch-based carbon papers/epoxy composites

To develop high-quality electromagnetic interference shielding efficiency (EMI SE) materials, nickel-pitch-based carbon papers (Ni-PCPs) were prepared using an electroless nickel-plating method and a wet-laid process to obtain Ni-PCPs/epoxy composites with enhanced EMI SE. The morphologies and structural properties of Ni-PCPs were determined using scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. It was found that the intensity of the metallic Ni peak increased with increasing Ni-plating time. In the frequency range of the electromagnetic waves from electrical appliances (0.5–1.0 GHz), the 5Ni-PCPs/epoxy composites of 0.25 mm thickness exhibited high EMI SE. The EMI SE of the composites was measured according to ASTM D4935-99 and increased in proportion to the current density because of the role of Ni particles. This result implies that the presence of Ni on the pitch-based carbon fibers can lead to good EMI SE, owing to the EMI adsorption behaviors of the metal particles.

無電解ニッケルメッキ法による小型スターリングエンジン用多管式加熱器の試作

無電解ニッケルメッキ法による小型スターリングエンジン用多管式加熱器の試作

Characterization of NiBP-graphite composite coatings deposited by dynamic chemical plating

Purpose – This paper aims to coat ternary composite NiBP-graphite films by Dynamic Chemical Plating “DCP” technique with a growth rate of at least 5 μm/h, which makes this technique a worthy candidate for production of composite films. Electroless nickel plating method can be used to deposit nickel–phosphorous and nickel–boron coatings on metals or plastic surface. However, restrictions such as toxicity, short lifetime of the plating-bath and limited plating rate have limited applications of conventional electroless processes. Design/methodology/approach – DCP is an alternative for producing metallic deposits on non-conductive materials and can be considered as a modified electroless coating process. Using a double-nozzle gun, two different solutions containing the precursors are sprayed simultaneously and separately onto the surface. With this technique, NiBP-graphite films are fabricated and their corrosion and tribological properties are investigated. Findings – With a film thickness of 2 μm, tribological analysis confirms that these coatings have favorable anti-friction and anti-wear properties. Corrosion resistance of NiBP-graphite composite films was investigated, and it was found that graphite incorporation significantly enhances corrosion resistance of NiBP films. Originality/value – DCP is faster and simpler to perform compared to other electroless deposition techniques. Using a double-nozzle gun, metal salt solution and reducing agents are sprayed to the surface, forming a deposit. Previously, coatings such as Cu, Cu-graphite, Cu-PTFE, Ni-B-TiO2, Ni-P, Ni-B-P and Ni-B-Zn with favorable compactness and adherence by DCP were reported. In this paper, the authors report the application of the DCP technique for depositing NiBP-PTFE nanocomposite films.

Conductive pulp fiber sheet-prepared waste newspaper pulp fibers treated by electroless nickel plating and its electric field shielding effect

In order to explore new applications of recovered waste paper, we prepared electrically conductive fibers by plating waste newspaper pulp (WNP) fibers. Further, we mixed them with unplated WNP fibers and filtered the mixture to obtain a conductive pulp fiber sheet, which was to be used for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) purposes. For the plating of WNP fibers, we used an electroless nickel plating method. We also plated pulp fibers recovered from fine paper, pulp fibers recovered from milk carton, and bleached softwood kraft pulp fibers, which were used for comparison with the plated WNP fibers. All of the four types of plated, recovered waste paper pulp fibers had high conductivity, i.e., an electrical conductivity of 0.1 S/m or more and a conductance of 0.02 S or more. The conductive pulp fiber sheet made of WNP fibers had an electric field shielding effect of 30 dB or more at 10–1000 MHz, provided that the ratio of the plated WNP fibers in the sheet was 40 % or more. Therefore, our conductive WNP fiber sheet is effective in EMC.

Optimization of electroless nickel plating on polyester fabric

Electrical conductivity is an important property of electroless nickel plated fabric. The optimized electroless nickel plating method can provide useful information for textile industries to obtain optimum surface resistance and stable plating. In this study, a screening experiment with factorial design and response surface method (RSM) with central composite design (CCD) was used to optimize the electroless nickel plating on polyester fabric. A two-level full factorial design (FFD) was used to determine the effects of five factors, i.e. the concentrations of nickel sulfate, sodium hypophosphite and sodium citrate, pH and temperature of the plating solution on surface resistance of the electroless nickel plated fabric. It is found that the nickel sulfate concentration and temperature of the plating solution are the most significant variables affecting the surface resistance of electroless nickel plated fabric. The optimum operating condition is finally obtained by using a desirability function. The test for reliability for predicting response surface equations shows that these equations give an excellent fitting to the observed values. In addition, the deposit composition, surface morphology, crystal structure and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness (SE) were studied. The EMI SE of the nickel plated polyester fabric obtained under the optimal condition is about 60 dB at the frequency ranging from 2 to 18 GHz.

Deposition Mechanism Study of a Novel Electroless Nickel Plating Technique on AZ91D Magnesium Alloy

A novel direct electroless nickel plating method was developed for the AZ91D magnesium alloy. The electroless nickel initial deposition morphology was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The initial deposition characteristics of the coating and the deposition mechanism of the nickel layer are discussed. The results show that after activation, an uneven scaly-activated membrane was formed on the AZ91D magnesium alloy surface. The weakest part of the activated membrane dissolved first, where small Ni particles deposited initially. These deposited Ni particles had high catalytic activity and they were involved in the catalytic reduction reaction of hypophosphite, from which P was precipitated. As the plating proceeded, the number of the deposited Ni particles gradually increased in a three-dimensional manner and the surface was gradually covered by the growing cellular particles. A compact pore-free nickel-plated film was finally formed.

Synthesis of Nickel Nanoparticles Supported on Boehmite for Selective Hydrogenation of p-Nitrophenol and p-Chloronitrobenzene

Nickel nanoparticles supported on boehmite were prepared by a modified electroless nickel-plating method and a direct reduction method. We mainly studied the catalyst synthesized by the direct reduction method. The as-prepared nickel catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The catalytic behavior in selective hydrogenation of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol and p-chloronitrobenzene to p-chloroaniline was studied and compared with Ni–B/γ-Al2O3 catalyst prepared by incipient-wetness impregnation and Ni–B/Al2O3·xH2O catalyst synthesized by a coprecipitation method. The Ni–B/boehmite catalysts were found to be more reactive than the Ni–B/γ-Al2O3 and Ni–B/Al2O3·xH2O catalysts. The superior activity of the Ni–B/boehmite catalyst was attributed to the small Ni–B particles and large amount of structural water, which enhanced the hydrophilicity of the catalyst. The Ni–B/boehmite sample was prepared by a direct reduction method. Compared with boehmite (a), the black spheres in b represent Ni–B cluster, the Ni–B cluster is about 20 nm in diameter.

무전해 니켈 도금법을 이용한 고성능 도전사의 제조

Highly conductive yarn was successfully obtained using electroless nickel plating method with palladium activation. In the presence of palladium seed on surface of fibers as a catalyst, continuos nickel layer produced on surface of fibers by reducing <TEX>$Ni${2+}$</TEX> ion in the electroless plating bath to <TEX>$Ni^0$</TEX>. It was found that the Pd-activation using <TEX>$SnCl_2$</TEX> and <TEX>$PdCl_2$</TEX> to deposit palladium seeds on the surface of fibers plays a key role in the subsequent electroless plating of nickel. It also found that electroless nickel plating on the fibers can induce the nickel-plated <TEX>$ELEX^{(R)}$</TEX> fibers to improve the electrical conductivity of the fibers. The thickness of nickel coating layer on the Pd-activated <TEX>$ELEX^{(R)}$</TEX> fibers and specific conductivity of the fiber were increased through electroless plating time. The temperature of nickel plating bath was very effective to enhance the nickel deposition rate.

Electrochemical properties of nickel-precipitated pyrite as cathode active material for lithium/pyrite cell

The effects of nickel precipitation and the cut-off voltage on the electrochemical properties of a pyrite cathode were investigated by using an electroless nickel-plating method. After nickel precipitation, some nickel particles that were precipitated on the surface of pyrite accumulated between the pyrite powder particles. In the voltage range of 0.4–3.2 V, a cell with nickel-precipitated pyrite exhibited a rapid decrease in discharge capacity and poor columbic efficiency. On the other hand, in the voltage range of 0.8–2.4 V, the cell showed an improved cycle life property and good coulombic efficiency because irreversible reactions below 0.8 V and sulfur oxidation above 2.4 V were suppressed by controlling the cut-off potential and the internal resistance was decreased by nickel precipitation.

Synthesis of nickel nanoparticles supported on metal oxides using electroless plating: Controlling the dispersion and size of nickel nanoparticles

Nickel nanoparticles supported on metal oxides were prepared by a modified electroless nickel-plating method. The process and mechanism of electroless plating were studied by changing the active metal (Ag) loading, acidity, and surface area of metal oxides and were characterized by UV–vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and H 2 chemisorption. The results showed that the dispersion of nickel nanoparticles was dependent on the interface reaction between the metal oxide and the plating solution or the active metal and the plating solution. The Ag loading and acidity of the metal oxide mainly affected the interface reaction to change the dispersion of nickel nanoparticles. The use of ultrasonic waves and microwaves and the change of solvents from water to ethylene glycol in the electroless plating could affect the dispersion and size of nickel nanoparticles.

Electroless nickel-plating for the PWSCC mitigation of nickel-base alloys in nuclear power plants

The feasibility study has been performed as an effort to apply the electroless nickel-plating method for a proposed countermeasure to mitigate primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) of nickel-base alloys in nuclear power plants. In order to understand the corrosion behavior of nickel-plating at high temperature water, the electrochemical properties of electroless nickel-plated alloy 600 specimens exposed to simulated pressurized water reactor (PWR) primary water were experimentally characterized in high temperature and high pressure water condition. And, the resistance to the flow accelerated corrosion (FAC) test was investigated to check the durability of plated layers in high-velocity water-flowing environment at high temperature. The plated surfaces were examined by using both scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) after exposures to the condition. From this study, it is found that the corrosion resistance of electroless nickel-plated Alloy 600 is higher than that of electrolytic plating in 290 °C water.

THE ELECTROCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF Li/FeS BATTERY USING ELECTROLESS NICKEL PLATED FeS POWDER

In order to investigate the electrochemical properties of Li / FeS cell, FeS powder was fabricated by using a high-energy ball milling method. Then, surface of FeS powder was coated with metallic nickel. Nickel coating was conducted by using electroless nickel plating method. Nickel chloride ( NiCl 2 · 6 H 2 O ) was used as the nickel ion source for electroless nickel plating. The effects of nickel coating on the electrochemical properties of FeS electrode for Li/FeS cell were investigated by CV measurement and charge/discharge tests. Then, cells for electrochemical tests were assembled by stacking a lithium anode, separator containing liquid electrolyte, and FeS cathode in turn. From the results, electroless nickel plated FeS electrode showed very high initial discharge capacity of 581 mAh/g- FeS . And also, it showed higher discharge capacity than that of bare FeS electrode until the 29th cycle. Therefore, it is found that metallic nickel gives beneficial effects on enhancing the electrical conductivity of FeS cathode material. 82.47.Cb.

Textile Design with Electroless Nickel Plating

Trials have been performed to assess the practicability of the electroless nickel plating method applied to textile fabrics with various fabric constructions including polyester woven fabrics and polyester meshes. The effect of electroless nickel plating on different polyester fabric constructions had been studied. The results displayed that the nickel could be successfully plated on various fabric structures. In this study, it was found that fabric constructions can influence the appearance of electroless nickel-plated fabrics and generate different metallic effects. Fabric structure is considered to be a very important factor for determining the desired appearances of electroless nickel-plated fabrics. Moreover, electroless nickel plating is able to simulate the metallic effects of hard metal products on non-conductive fabrics with soft handle. Such findings could give inspiration to designers to design fabrics with different brilliant textures.

Fabrication and microwave properties of Ni hollow powders by electroless plating and template removing method

Using activated carbon as templates, Ni coated activated carbon powders were prepared by electroless nickel-plating method. Removing the activated carbon templates, nickel hollow powders were prepared. The prepared Ni coated activated carbon powders and nickel hollow powders were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The results show that most of the activated carbon template could be eliminated at 210 °C in air or at 700 °C in nitrogen without oxidation of most of the coated nickel. The Ni hollow powders heated in air showed more porous than that of annealed in nitrogen. The dielectric and magnetic loss of Ni hollow powders -paraffin wax composites were measured in the frequency range of 2–15 GHz by reflection/transmission way using network analyzer. The reflection coefficient of Ni hollow powders-paraffin wax absorbers with 2 mm thickness was calculated by transmission line theory, the maximum reflection loss can be up to − 16 dB.

Improving the adhesion of electroless-nickel coating layer on diamond powder

An electroless-nickel plating method with semi-batch reactor was employed to coat diamond powders. Ni–P fines are known to be a main cause for generating pore structure in the nickel coating layer was eliminated by lowering the rate of reduction by means of temperature, pH and feeding rate of reductant. It was found that at a temperature of 70 °C, pH of 4.8, feeding rate of reductant of 0.25 ml/min the Ni–P fines were entirely eliminated, resulting in a rapid improvement of diamond-coated nickel layer adhesion.

アルミニウム合金上メッキ膜の密着力

Many methods of plating on aluminum alloys have been proposed, but most of the adhesion of plated films obtained by these methods still remains unexplained.The authors evaluated the adhesive bond by tension test on the following 5 typical methods, and also investigated the effects of heat-treatment on adhesion.1. Zincate method2. Double zincate method3. Nickel displacement plating method4. Direct electroless nickel plating method5. Vacuum evaporation methodAs the results of these studies, the following conclusions were drawn.(1) The greatest adhesive bond among the five was obtained by double zincate method. The tensile strength in this method was estimated to be equal to that of the mother aluminum alloy. For this reason, the above method was considered to be the most suitable for critical applications such as a cylinder, magnetic disc, and waveguide.(2) The tensile strength in zincate method was 1, 300kg/cm2.(3) The tensile strength in direct electroless nickel plating method was 370kg/cm2 as plated and it was found to be increased to 1, 100kg/cm2 by the effects of heat-treatment at 150°C for 4hr.