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Electroless nickel plating is a chemical plating process that forms a nickel alloy layer on the metal surface. Different from traditional electroplating, during the electroless nickel plating process, the nickel alloy layer is formed through a chemical reaction in the solution without the need for external electrical current.
Electroless nickel plating provides a uniform, corrosion-resistant nickel alloy protective layer and can control its hardness and friction characteristics. It is widely used to improve the corrosion resistance, wear resistance, and appearance of metal parts, especially in electronic components, automotive parts, and mechanical components.
– Cleaning and pretreatment: The object to be plated with nickel needs thorough cleaning first to remove surface oils, dirt, and other impurities. Pretreatment ensures that the surface is clean to facilitate uniform nickel deposition.
– Activation: The surface is exposed to a chemically active solution to provide deposition sites for nickel.
– Plating: The object is immersed in an electroless nickel plating solution containing nickel salts and reducing agents. In this solution, nickel salts are reduced to solid nickel, forming a uniform nickel alloy deposition on the object’s surface.
– Rinsing and post-treatment: The finished product is rinsed to remove excess chemicals, then undergoes post-treatments such as polishing, cleaning, and corrosion resistance treatment.
Electroplated nickel provides a uniform, dense, corrosion-resistant nickel alloy protective layer with excellent wear resistance and chemical stability. It can also achieve uniform deposition on objects with complex shapes.
Electroplated nickel provides excellent corrosion resistance, although there is certain trade-off between hardness and corrosion resistance. High-phosphorus electroplated nickel usually offers better corrosion resistance.
The thickness of electroplated nickel is typically controlled by the concentration of nickel salts and the deposition time in the plating solution. Increasing the deposition time and concentration will increase the thickness of the coating.
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