Nickel Plating Process Research Articles

Research on the Growth Sustainability Active Organs of Agricultural Machinery

One way to increase the durability of the machine is active surface coatings using new technological processes such as thermal spray coatings, especially the plasma jet. Was made by coating nickel plating process of the plasma jet knife blade for removal of a group from the grower. In order to emphasize increasing the reliability of these knives by coating with nickel, they were mounted on a cultivator with a lot of knives witness, uncovered, and have been used extensively. Data on wear two groups of knives, coated with nickel and witness uncovered were recorded by photometric methods were processed and plotted statisitic. There was a significant decrease of 66.79% in average wear on the knife blades coated with nickel compared to the control, uncoated.

An innovative procedure of electroless nickel plating in fluoride-free bath used for AZ91D magnesium alloy

An innovative and environmentally friendly procedure for electroless nickel plating on AZ91D magnesium alloy was studied in the present paper. The composition of the alkaline and acidic fluoride-free baths and their plating process were investigated and discussed in detail. A double-layer coating was formed on AZ91D magnesium alloy by alkaline and subsequent acidic plating. The inner alkaline layer was composed of Ni–P coating with low P content, but the outer acidic layer consisted of Ni–P coating with high P content. The morphologies, composition and phase structure of the double-layer coating were characterized with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. The corrosion resistance of Ni–P coatings on the AZ91D magnesium alloy was evaluated by neutral salt spray and electrochemical polarization tests. The corrosion potential of AZ91D magnesium alloy with the double-layer coating was elevated by 1.14 V to Mg substrate. The salt spray test demonstrated that the corrosion resistance of AZ91D alloy with the Ni–P double-layer coating was greatly improved. A novel process of electroless nickel plating was successfully developed in fluoride-free baths. The environmental pollution could be significantly reduced due to discharge of fluoride.

A metal-honeycomb-type structured catalyst for steam reforming of methane: Effect of preparation condition change on reforming performance

In order to construct a structured steam reforming system, a honeycomb-type nickel-based catalyst was prepared by the combined technique of a sol–gel method and electroless plating on a stainless steel substrate. The type of the reducing agent used in the plating process influenced not only the forming rate of the nickel particles, but also the methane steam reforming (MSR) property of the prepared catalyst. The catalyst prepared using NaBH4 demonstrated a higher performance for MSR than the commercial catalyst, indicating that the catalyst degradation was quite low even under the severe H2O/CH4 condition. The plating time of the nickel plating process also significantly influenced the reforming property. When using the NaBH4 reducing agent, the plating time of about 3min provided the highest performance. The chloride and the sulfate were suitable for the anion species of the nickel reagent used in the plating. Based on the XPS measurement, the electron state of the nickel, which was prepared using the chloride and the sulfate was thought to be a state that is appropriate for the formation of the CHx species and the formation of O* species in the reforming mechanism. Adding a promoter component to the aluminum sol solution was effective for improving the reforming performance. Especially, the reforming property of the catalyst that adds the Ce component was improved. The combination technique developed in this study is a useful and expandable method for preparing the structured catalyst with a high performance on the stainless steel substrate.

Preparation and characterization of electroless nickel-coated cellulose fibres

The aim of this project was to fabricate electroless nickel-coated cellulose fibres. Ultimately, these nickel-coated cellulose fibres will be used to develop a cost-effective polymer composite for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and/or electrostatic discharge (ESD) applications. An attempt has been made to impart electrical conductivity onto cellulose fibres via an electroless nickel plating process. The aim was to achieve a homogeneous, continuous layer of Ni on the cellulose fibres, and the plating conditions were optimized to achieve this. The relationship between the coating morphology and the performance of the coated fibre was also of interest. Testing was carried out using cellulose filter paper and then loose cellulose fibres. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images of nickel-coated filter paper showed that nickel particles are bonded to the cellulose fibres. The coating appeared more compacted and continuous as plating time increased, corresponding to lower surface resistivity. This observation suggested a correlation between morphology and electrical conductivity of the coating. For nickel-coated cellulose fibres, after optimization of plating conditions, a uniform deposition of nickel particles around the cellulose surfaces was confirmed by SEM images. EDS and XRD results confirmed similar coating could be produced on filter paper and cellulose fibres. SEM images of cross-sectioned nickel-coated cellulose fibres illustrated nickel particles had penetrated into the inner walls of the cellulose fibres. This impregnation of the fibres should act to increase the bonding between nickel coating and cellulose fibres. These nickel-impregnated cellulose fibres could now be incorporated into a polymer matrix to create an electrically conducting composite with the right processing parameters.

Recovery of nickel and water from nickel electroplating wastewater by electrodialysis

Galvanic processes are one of the main activities contributing to metal discharges into the environment. The wastewater generated contains a high load of salts and metals that should be treated. In this work, the electrodialysis (ED) treatment was studied in order to concentrate and extract nickel (Ni) and its salts of effluents from the bright nickel electroplating process, aiming at water and concentrated solution recovery for reuse, and saving industrial and environmental resources. A laboratory-scale ED system was applied in the treatment of a synthetic effluent based on industrial bath composition. Properties of recovered water and nickel-concentrated solution have also been analyzed to verify their quality: Both solutions were used in the nickel-plating process in order to analyze their effects on the properties of electroplated pieces. It was found that ED treatment generates a very low conductivity solution, enabling its reuse as rinsewater, and a concentrated solution, which can be fed to the bath to recover volumes lost by evaporation and drag out during the nickel-electroplating process. The reuse does not cause any harm to the quality of plated pieces with regard to the visual aspects and corrosion resistance.

Moisture and Hydrogen Release in Optoelectronic Hermetic Packages

In this work the effect of nickel (Ni) plating process on the hydrogen (H) and moisture content of hermetic packages such as those used in optoelectronics was investigated. The work offers an explanation of moisture formation inside hermetic packages by showing that the problem arises from the electroless plating of Ni, which is found to be inherently rich in H. The effects of the Ni plating process, baking, and Au thickness on the moisture and hydrogen content of hermetic packages were thoroughly explored. It was observed that baking the package components before sealing alleviates the problem of moisture formation inside the package but does not fully eliminate it. It was only after changing the Ni plating process from electroless to electrolytic that the moisture problem actually disappeared. This investigation showed that moisture formation inside hermetic packages is due to H evolution from the electroless Ni which eventually reacts with surface oxides to form H2O. SIMS analysis of electroless and electrolytic Ni showed that electroless Ni is around 10-fold richer in H compared with its electrolytic counterpart. SIMS analysis also showed that H content in electroless Ni can be significantly reduced with heat treatment.

Effect of Electrolyte Composition on Corrosion Resistance in Nickel Plating Process for Coating Bonded Magnet PrFeB

Despite of its excellence magnetic quality, one of the critical properties of PrFeB based permanent magnet is a low corrosion resistance so it can be oxidized easily which can reduce its magnetic properties. In this study, Nickel coating has been performed for bonded PrFeB magnet by the electroplating method using Nickel-Watts bath-type as the electrolyte to improve the corrosion resistance. The varying amount of the electrolyte compounds used to have the optimized composition indicated by the corrosion resistance measurement. The solution composition used was NiSO4 (230-380 g/L), NiCl2 (30-60 g/L), and H3BO3 (30 and 45 g/L) with a fixed value of other parameters. Characterization used including the immersion corrosion test, microstructure analysis, and magnetic properties. Based on the corrosion rate measurement, the highest corrosion resistant of Nickel coated PrFeB magnet achieved from the electrolyte composition of NiSO4: NiCl2: H3BO3 = 380: 60: 30 g/L with a plating time and current density (J) of 60 minutes and 40 mA/cm2 respectively. The corrosion rate data showed that the Nickel metal coating can improve the corrosion resistance of bonded PrFeB magnet up to 29 times than of the substrate. The SEM images showed that the thickness of the Nickel coating on the optimum electrolyte composition was in average value of 35.1 µm. The overall samples has a magnetic remanence value (Br) reached ≥ 6 kG, so it has enough properties to be applied in devices such as generators and electric motors.

A electro-deposition process for fabrication of biomimetic super-hydrophobic surface and its corrosion resistance on magnesium alloy

Super-hydrophobic surface has many special functions that are studied wildly. The ingenious microstructures of typical plant leaves with super-hydrophobicity enlighten researchers to design and fabricate artificial super-hydrophobic surface. Being the lightest alloy among structural metals materials magnesium alloy was restricted due to its poor corrosion resistance. A super-hydrophobic surface with self-cleaning was successfully deposited on AZ91D magnesium alloy by the nickel plating process. The super-hydrophobic surfaces were covered with cauliflower-like cluster binary micro-nano structural Ni coatings. The procedure was that the samples were processed by plating after pretreatment, finally modified by stearic acid (CH3(CH2)16COOH). The surface morphologies, chemical composition, wettability and corrosion resistance are characterized by means of SEM, FT-IR, water contact angle and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. The as-prepared super-hydrophobic surface has a contact angle as high as 160.8±1° and a SA as low as 1.8±1°, showing good long-term stability. The super-hydrophobic surface exhibited excellent corrosion resistance property in the 3.5wt. % NaCl solution. This method could provide a straightforward and effective route to fabricate large-area super-hydrophobic surface with anticorrosion and self-cleaning for a great number of potential applications, and easily extended to other metal materials.

Study on Electroless Nickel Plating Process and Property of Aluminum Alloy

Electroless nickle coating with plain and high binding force was obtained in this experiment .the samples were heat treated and diffused, then microstructure and transformation was investigated by optical microscope and scanning electron microscope. The hardness, binding force, wear and corrosion resistance are tested, the reasonable heat treatment process is gained. Hardness is increased after eletroless nickel plating and heat treatment compared with the matrix. The adhesion of sample heat treated at 400°C is highest, the weight loss and friction coefficient is lowest, the corrosion resistance is best..

An integrated electroless nickel plating process for fabrication of CMOS-MEMS probe chip

This study designs a CMOS-MEMS probe chip and fabricates it using the 0.35μm CMOS process of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). The post-CMOS procedure is a Micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) technology that involves steps such as lithography, electroless nickel (EN) plating, grinding and dry etching. The probe chip has a through-silicon-via (TSV) package structure combination with the multi-layer interconnections within CMOS processes, which simplifies the wiring layout and improves the connectivity between the probe heads and external devices. In addition, passive components or circuits are inherently integrated with CMOS chips to increase the frequency bandwidth and measurement quality. Finite element analysis is used to design the probe shape and the LIGA-like thick photoresist process using EN plating techniques is used to fabricate the probes. The Ni-P alloy is applied to the probe to thicken and strengthen the cantilever part of the probe. The different deposition areas for several types of cantilever probes on the same chip fabricated by EN plating using different growth rates result in unequal probe heights. Therefore, polishing each plated layer of the probe is a necessary step to guarantee the co-planar surfaces. Finally, the probe structures are suspended using dry etching (RIE, ICP-RIE) and the probe cantilevers have no warp.

Preliminary Research on Brazability of SiC Particulate Reinforced Aluminium-Based Composites

SiCp/A356 composites containing 20% (volume fraction) SiC and three kinds of different filler metals were investigated by vacuum brazing process. Brazability of SiCp/A356 composites was analyzed after nickel plating on the surface of composites and without nickel plating process. The effects of holding time on microstructure of the brazed joints of SiCp/A356 composite were studied by metallographic microscope, SEM and Energy spectrum analysis. The results showed that nickel plating on the surface of composite contributed to improve brazability of SiCp/A356 composites prominently, while inferior brazability displayed without nickel plating on the surface of composites. Hardness of joints brazed at holding time of 6 min, 8 min and 10 min were studied, consequently the hardness of the weld seam region is the highest when the holding time was 8 min.

Anti-fouling surface modified stainless steel for food processing

Fouling on food contact surfaces (e.g. heat exchangers, work tables, conveyors) during food processing has a significant impact on operating efficiency and can promote biofilm development. Processing raw milk on plate heat exchangers results in significant fouling of proteins as well as minerals, and is exacerbated by the wall heating effect. The surface of 316L stainless steel heat exchanger plates was modified to resist fouling during food processing. An electroless nickel plating process was used to co-deposit fluorinated nanoparticles onto 316L stainless steel. The ability to resist fouling was demonstrated on a pilot plant scale plate heat exchanger. The fluorinated nanoparticle modified steel reduced surface energy from 41.4 to 24.7mN/m, and reduced foulant accumulation by 97%. The anti-fouling coating was demonstrated to improve heat transfer efficiency. Repeatability studies were performed and confirmed that the EN-PTFE surface coating maintained its anti-fouling properties through 10 independent processing runs. Co-deposition of fluorinated particles during electroless nickel plating represents an effective and commercially scalable method to prepare anti-fouling coatings on stainless steel.

Sensitivity alteration of fiber Bragg grating sensors with additive micro-scale bi-material coatings

This paper describes a combined fabrication method for creating a bi-material micro-scale coating on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) optical sensors using laser-assisted maskless microdeposition (LAMM) and electroless nickel plating. This bi-material coating alters the sensitivity of the sensor where it also acts as a protective layer. LAMM is used to coat bare FBGs with a 1–2 µm thick conductive silver layer followed by the electroless nickel plating process to increase layer thickness to a desired level ranging from 1 to 80 µm. To identify an optimum coating thickness and predict its effect on the sensor's sensitivity to force and temperature, an optomechanical model is developed in this study. According to the model if the thickness of the Ni layer is 30–50 µm, maximum temperature sensitivity is achieved. Our analytical and experimental results suggest that the temperature sensitivity of the coated FBG with 1 µm Ag and 33 µm Ni is almost doubled compared to a bare FBG with sensitivity of 0.011 ± 0.001 nm °C−1. In contrast, the force sensitivity is decreased; however, this sensitivity reduction is less than the values reported in the literature.

Moisture and Hydrogen Release in Optoelectronic Hermetic Packages

In this work we investigated the effect of Nickel (Ni) plating process on the Hydrogen (H) and moisture content of hermetic packages such as those used in optoelectronics. The work offers an explanation of moisture formation inside hermetic packages by showing that the problem arises from the electroless plating of Ni which is found to be inherently rich in H. The effects of the Ni plating process, baking, and Au thickness on the moisture and hydrogen content of hermetic packages were thoroughly explored. It was observed that baking the package components before sealing alleviates the problem of moisture formation inside the package but it doesn't fully eliminate it. It was only after changing the Ni plating process from electroless to electrolytic that the moisture problem actually disappeared. Our investigation showed that moisture formation inside hermetic packages is due to H evolution from the electroless Ni which eventually reacts with surface oxides to form H2O. SIMS analysis of electroless and electrolytic Ni showed that electroless Ni is around ten folds richer in H compared to its electrolytic counterpart. SIMS analysis also showed that H content in electroless Ni can be significantly reduced with heat treatment.

Application of Fered-Fenton and chemical precipitation process for the treatment of electroless nickel plating wastewater

Electroless nickel plating wastewaters commonly contain the citrate chelating complex and the coexisting hypophosphite, which is a scavenger of hydroxyl radicals, typically lowers the catalytic efficiency of H2O2 by Fe2+ in Fenton reaction. Hence, in this work, the Fered-Fenton method was adopted to remediate the citrate, and then alkaline precipitation was utilized to remove the freed nickel ions. The chemical oxidation demand (COD) of citric acid could be efficiently reduced by approximately 95% using 1080mM H2O2 (dosed in continual mode) and 20mM ferrous ions at a current density of 190Am−2 ([citric acid]=100mM and [Ni]=100mM). Meanwhile, 99.9% of the nickel that was liberated from the chelation of citric acid was removed by the cathodic deposition and the sequential precipitation. The hypophosphite did not significantly influence the COD or nickel removal efficiency. Finally, those optimal conditions for the successful management of simulated electroless plating wastewater consisted of citric acid and nickel ions coexisting with hypophosphite were then used to demonstrate the treatment of real wastewater (45,000ppm COD and 8000ppm nickel ions). The high COD removal, 93%, from the effluents of the electroless nickel plating process verified that the Fered-Fenton process can be practically applied.

Quantum mechanical approach for electroless plating process

A high speed electroless nickel plating bath has been developed with p-tolyl thiourea and diphenyl thiourea as accelerators for electroless nickel plating process. The acceleration effect of the compounds was determined by weight gain and electrochemical method. Both compounds improved the rate of deposition to considerable extent by adsorbing strongly on the steel surface. The adsorption of the accelerators was found to obey Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The Arrhenius plot and quantum mechanical parameters further justified the impressive performance of accelerators through their effective adsorption on metal surface.

Simultaneous measurement of the temperature and force using a steel cantilever soldered with a partially nickel coated in-fibre Bragg grating

A method for the simultaneous, independent measurement of temperature and force using a single in-fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors was proposed and demonstrated. The FBGs were partially metallized using a partial nickel coating method. A Bragg reflex peak was successfully divided into two reflex peaks during the partial nickel plating process. The metallized part of the FBG was soldered on a steel cantilever, and the non-metallized part hanged in air. Using a structure that is composed of the steel cantilever soldered with a dual-wavelength FBG, the temperature and pressure can be simultaneously measured and discriminated. The metallized part of the FBG is highly temperature-sensitive (about 26.1pm/°C), and for the non-metallized part the original Bragg wavelength of the FBG remains unchanged. The force sensitivity of the metallized part which soldered on the cantilever remained at 82pm/N from 30 to 90°C.

The properties and the effect of operating parameters on nickel plating (review)

The energy required in an electroplating process and the material costs are important considerations in product manufacturing. The most important plating criteria, however, are quality and the uniformity of the deposited metals. The nickel plating process is used extensively for decorative, engineering, and electroforming purposes. Because of the appearance and other properties of the electrodeposited material, nickel deposition can be varied, over a wide range, by controlling the composition and the operating parameters of the plating solution. Decorative applications account for about 80% of the nickel consumed in plating; 20% is consumed for engineering and electroforming purposes. Autocatalytic (electroless) nickel plating processes are commercially important but are outside the scope of this review. In this review, the basic facts of nickel electroplating processes, thickness test and methods, are discussed. The properties of nickel and the different effects of the operating parameters on nickel plating, together with the simulation and design tools, are also reviewed. Simulation tools can help to obtain better plating results. Non-destructive techniques to evaluate the coatings on a microstructural and the technical evaluation with TEM, SEM, XRD and other techniques were also reviewed. Key words: Electroplating, nickel plating, metal distribution, nickel thickness, electroforming and thickness test.

DFT investigation of Ni(II) adsorption onto MA-DTPA/PVDF chelating membrane in the presence of coexistent cations and organic acids

Melamine-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid/polyvinylidene fluoride (MA-DTPA/PVDF) chelating membrane bearing polyaminecarboxylate groups was used to remove Ni(II) from nickel plating effluents. Adsorption experiments were conducted to study the adsorption of the membrane towards Ni(II) in Ni(II)–Ca(II), Ni(II)–NH 4 +, Ni(II)–Fe(III) binary systems, and Ni(II)–lactic acid, Ni(II)–succinic acid and Ni(II)–citric acid complex systems. For the ternary nickel plating processes, the effects of 3d transition metals including Fe(II), Co(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) on Ni(II) adsorption were evaluated. The influences of the aforementioned coexistent cations and organic acids were elucidated by the continuum solvation model (COSMO)-corrected density functional theory (DFT) method. Geometries and complexation energies were analyzed for metal–MA-DTPA and Ni(II)–organic acid complexes. DFT results accord with the experimental data, indicating that DFT is helpful to evaluate the complexation between the membrane and metal cations. The coexistent Ca(II) tends to form more stable complex with MA-DTPA ligand than NH 4 + and Fe(III), and can interfere with the formation of Ni(II)–MA-DTPA complex. The complexing sequence of 3d metals with MA-DTPA ligand is Zn(II) < Co(II) < Ni(II) < Fe(II) < Cu(II). Therefore, both Fe(II) and Cu(II) have the considerable competition with Ni(II). The stabilities of Ni(II)–organic acid complexes follow the order of lactic acid < succinic acid < citric acid, but cannot be comparable to that of Ni(II)–MA-DTPA complex.

Corrosion Resistance of Reverse Pulsed Electrodeposition Nano-Nickel Coating

With the purpose of decorative bright nickel plating process, nano-nickel and ordinary bright nickel coatings were prepared by applying the electro-deposition method with DC and PRC respectively. The grain sizes, organizational structures and surface morphologies of samples were characterizated by X-ray diffraction(XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The corrosion resistance of the samples were determined by immersion corrosion test, salt spray corrosion test and electrochemical methods. The results showed that the corrosion resistance of reverse pulsed electrodeposition nano-nickel coating is superior to the DC electrodeposition nickel coating.