Electroless Deposition of Ni-P on Poly (ether ether ketone)/Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Composite and Improvement of the Electrical Conductivity in Direction of Thickness

Abstract

Electroless deposition of Ni-P coating on Poly (ether ether ketone) (PEEK) and PEEK/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) composites was reported. A micro/nano hierarchical porous network was formed on the surface after swelling and sonicating. This structure led to a hydrophobic surface with a water contact angle about 125°. However, the surface area and roughness were improved and some MWCNTs were exposed on the wall of porous network for PEEK/MWCNTs composites. When the NaBH4 absorbed samples were put into NiSO4 solution, some spherical Ni0 particles was attached on the wall of porous network and acted as catalyst to initiate the electroless Ni-P deposition. The deposition rate of Ni-P coating on the micro/nano porous network surface was about 55 g/m2/h. The compact nodular Ni-P coating was embeded into the porous network and direct contact with the exposed MWCNTs. The adhesion between the Ni-P coating and micro/nano porous network was about 4.2 MPa and the MWCNTs content had little effect on the adhesion. For pure PEEK, the electrical conductivity in direction of thickness was decreased by one order of magnitude after electroless Ni-P deposition. However, for PEEK/MWCNTs composites, the electrical conductivity in direction of thickness was increased by six orders of magnitude after electroless deposition.

Electroless Deposition of Ni-P Coatings on HNBR for Low Friction Rubber Seals

“…Additionally, a DPO test was performed showing the predominance of adhesive failure between the Ni-P coating and the epoxy adhesive, although the black parts indicate a failure at the Ni-P/PHNBR interface, as shown in Figure 9. The mean adhesive strength was 1.0 ± 0.5 MPa which is not far from the values reported for electroless plating on other polymeric substrates: 1.65-2.09 MPa for electroless copper plating on acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resin [42] and 2.5-4.5 MPa for metallized PEEK via ENP [43]. The adhesion and structural integrity of the Ni-P film plated on HNBR were evaluated under strong deformation conditions by using an indirect method, namely by measuring the electrical resistance while bending the samples repetitively at 90 • , as shown in Figure 10.…”