An Experimental Study on Electroless Nickel Plating on Alumina Ceramic

Abstract

In this paper a low temperature metallization i.e. standardization of electroless Ni plating on alumina ceramic is summarized. It includes three main steps (i) pre-treatment, (ii) activation and (iii) Ni plating. Pre-treatment includes degreasing with non-silicate soap solution followed by ultrasonic cleaning in acetone and etching the alumina surface to generate roughness for making it suitable for adhesion. Etching has been obtained by immersion in 10% NaOH at 50°C for 10 minutes and 50% HF for 15 minutes at room temperature. Activation of the surface is the most important step before electroless plating on alumina ceramic. Activation has been achieved with Ginplate 442 (commercial chemical) by immersing the alumina specimen for 5 minutes at room temperature. Activated alumina samples have been used for electroless Ni plating in Ginplate 418 bath at 88°C.Uniform, densely compact coating has been achieved as revealed by SEM image. XRD plot confirms the presence of metallic nickel together with phases of Ni 2 P, NiP, Ni 3 P confirming the nickel phosphite based plating. Subsequently, tube to tube joining of these metallized alumina ceramic tubes has been conducted through vacuum brazing process with copper silver eutectic alloy (28Cu-72Ag) whose cross section showed good joint with excellent wettability of Cu-Ag with Ni plating.

Synthesis and Characterization of NiP-TiC-SiC Nanocomposite Coating via Electroless Process on Alumina Substrate

“…The substrate is coated while it is dipped in an EL bath, which includes a supply of metal ions, reducing agents, stabilizers, complexing agents, wetting agents, additives, etc [6]. EL (NiP) is frequently employed because of its good corrosion and wear resistance [7][8][9][10], it has different benefits, such as uniform plating, and solderability, but it also has some drawbacks, such as worse adhesion and slower plating rate than electroplating [11]. The incorporation of nanoparticles onto a (NiP) matrix from an EL bath led to the form of nano-composite coatings.…”

“…As a result, the metallic nickel activation process provides a possible activation strategy for EL nickel plating on porous alumina ceramic [10], and R. K. Gupta, et al. produced an experimental study on EL nickel plating on alumina ceramic (2021), and they were successes in producing a uniform and compact coating film [11].…”