Electroless deposition nickel

Electrogalvanizing Electrography Electrogravimetry Electrohydrodynamics Electro-Katadyn process Electrokinetics Electroless deposition Electroless nickel Electroless plating... 

In electroless deposition, the substrate, prepared in the same manner as in electroplating (qv), is immersed in a solution containing the desired film components (see Electroless plating). The solutions generally used contain soluble nickel salts, hypophosphite, and organic compounds, and plating occurs by a spontaneous reduction of the metal ions by the hypophosphite at the substrate surface, which is presumed to catalyze the oxidation—reduction reaction. 

Electroless Electrolytic Plating. In electroless or autocatalytic plating, no external voltage/current source is required (21). The voltage/current is suppHed by the chemical reduction of an agent at the deposit surface. The reduction reaction must be catalyzed, and often boron or phosphoms is used as the catalyst. Materials that are commonly deposited by electroless plating (qv) are Ni, Cu, Au, Pd, Pt, Ag, Co, and Ni—Fe (permalloy). In order to initiate the electroless deposition process, a catalyst must be present on the surface. A common catalyst for electroless nickel is tin. Often an accelerator is needed to remove the protective coat on the catalysis and start the reaction. 

In Ni—P electroless deposits, there can be as much as 10% by weight of phosphoms. The amount depends on the added complexing agents and the pH. The Ni—P deposits are fine-grained supersaturated soHd solutions, which may be precipitation hardened by heat treatment to form dispersed Ni P particles in a nickel matrix. 

The growth of electroless plating is directiy traceable to (/) the discovery that some alloys produced by electroless deposition, notably nickel phosphoms, have unique properties (2) the growth of the electronics industry, especially the development of printed circuits (see Electronic coatings Integrated circuits) and (i) the large-scale introduction of plastics into everyday life. 

The most extensively used reducing agent for the electroless deposition of nickel is hypophosphite", and the reaction is as follows ... 

Resistance to corrosion Most authors who compare resistance to corrosion of electroless nickel with that of electrodeposited nickel conclude that the electroless deposit is the superior material when assessed by salt spray testing, seaside exposure or subjection to nitric acid. Also, resistance to corrosion of electroless nickel is said to increase with increasing phosphorus level. However, unpublished results from International Nickel s Birmingham research laboratory showed that electroless nickel-phosphorus and electrolytic nickel deposits were not significantly different on roof exposure or when compared by polarisation data. 

Electroless nickel-phosphorus should not be used with either fused or hot, strong, aqueous caustic solutions because the coating offers lower resistance to attack than does electrodeposited nickel. As-deposited electroless nickel-boron, however, offers good resistance to hot aqueous caustic solutions It is also resistant to solutions of oxidising salts such as potassium dichromate, permanganate, chlorate and nitrate. 

Hardness The hardness of electroless deposits is higher after heating to intermediate temperatures, the final value depending upon temperature and time of heating. Values of maximum hardness of nickel-phosphorus after heating to various temperatures are plotted in Fig. 13.11 the variation of... 

Electroless nickel engineering deposits Electroless nickel is not usually deposited to thicknesses greater than about 125/xm. Where a greater total thickness is required, an electrolytic nickel undercoat should be used. 

The electrochemical mechanism was rejected by Salvago and Cavallotti [26] on the basis that it does not explain several features of electroless deposition of ferrous metals it does not account for the isotopic composition of the H2 gas evolved it does not explain the effect of the various solution components on reaction rate and it does not account for the homogeneous decomposition of very active solutions or the fact that they can give deposition on insulating surfaces. These authors put forward a chemical mechanism, involving various hydrolyzed nickel species, which they claim explains the observed behavior of the system ... 

M.H. Pournaghi-Azar and H. Razmi-Nerbin, Voltammetric behaviour and electrocatalytic activity of the aluminum electrode modified with nickel and nickel hexacyanoferrate films, prepared by electroless deposition. J. Electroanal. Chem. 456, 83-90 (1998). 

Marton and Schlesinger (15) studied the nucleation and growth of electrolessly deposited thin nickel (Ni-P) films. These studies were later extended and complemented... 

It is interesting to note that Brenner and Riddell (2-4) accidentally encountered electroless deposition of nickel and cobalt during electrodeposition of nickel-tungsten and cobalt-tungsten alloys (in the presence of sodium hypophosphite) on steel tubes in order to produce material with better hardness than that of steel. They found deposition efficiency higher than 100%, which was explained by an electroless deposition contribution to the electrodeposition process. 

A comparative smdy of great practical value has been carried out between several Ni-based diffusion barrier properties. Those were produced by means of electroless deposition from nickel sulfate and nickel sulfamate deposition solutions (73). It was concluded on the basis of Auger depth profiling (see Section 13.3) that Ni(P) sulfamate has much better diffusion barrier properties than Ni(P) sulfate. This conclusion is a telling example of the influence of anions on the physical properties of electro-chemically deposited metals. 

Although the concept of phase is well defined thermodynamically, here phase refers to a mechanically separable homogeneous part of an otherwise heterogeneous system. The concept of phase change refers here to a change in the number present or in the nature of a phase or phases as a result of an imposed condition such as temperature or pressure. To clarify and illustrate the topic at hand, we use the specific cases of electrolessly deposited nickel and electrodeposited cobalt. 

Diffusion barriers are coatings that serve in that role specifically, protection against undesirable diffusion. One of the best examples is that of a 100- tm-thick electrode-posited copper layer that serves as an effective barrier against the diffusion of carbon. Another example is that of nickel and nickel alloys (notably, electrolessly deposited Ni-P) that block diffusion of copper into and through gold overplate. This is achieved by the deposition of a relatively thin Ni-P layer (less than 1 /mm) between the copper and its overlayer. Naturally, the effectiveness of the diffusion barrier increases with its thickness. Other factors in the effectiveness of a diffusion barrier... 

Schlesinger and Marton (15) studied the nucleation and growth of electrolessly deposited thin nickel (Ni-P) films. These studies were later extended and complemented by the studies performed by Cortijo and Schlesinger (19, 20) on radial distribution functions (RDFs). RDF curves were derived from electron diffraction data obtained from similar types of films as well as electrolessly deposited copper ones. Those studies, taken together, have elucidated the process of crystallization in the electroless deposition of thin metal films. 

In some instances to improve solderability, tin is deposited on nickel surfaces. In a short time, however, interdiffusion of the two metals results in the growth of an intermetallic NiSn3 compound that is much less amenable to soldering. In case of tin over electrolessly deposited nickel surfaces, the interdiffusion results in pores in both films. Pores are to be avoided, of course, if conductivity and/or contact resistance is an issue. 

J. Wang, G. Chen and M.P. Chatrathi, Nickel amperometric detector prepared by electroless deposition for microchip electrophoretic measurement of alcohols and sugars, Electroanalysis, 16 (2004) 1603-1608. 

In these processes the plastic component is treated in an etching solution to render the surface hydrophilic and to promote adhesion between it and the metallic film the surface then is activated so that later it can catalyse electroless deposition of thin layers of copper or nickel. The thin films so produced are the conductive surfaces on which further metal may be deposited by conventional electroplating. 

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