Electroless Nickel Plating

What is it?

Electroless Nickel plating differs from electroplated nickel in that the deposition is autocatalytic. This means that the nickel is deposited on a substrate material without the use of an external electrical current. Many of the properties of Electroless Nickel plating are superior to those achieved by electroplating. Corrosion and chemical resistance are better, ductility is improved, the deposit is harder (especially after heat treating), and the magnetic properties are different. One of the important features of Electroless Nickel plating is the ability to obtain deposits of uniform thickness even on confined inside surfaces.

Many varieties of Electroless Nickel plating are available. For the most part, the engineered coatings can be divided into three categories: low, medium, and high-phosphorus deposits. Phosphorus is present in all Electroless Nickel deposits to some degree and the level of phosphorus directly affects how hard and how well the deposit resists corrosion. The higher phosphorus deposits have very good corrosion resistance but are softer than the low phosphorus deposits. Conversely, the low phosphorus deposits are harder but not quite as resistant to corrosion.

What does it do?

Electroless Nickel coatings have a wide range of applications to improve wear, corrosion resistance and, in some cases, cosmetics. Examples include valves, pumps, fittings, heat exchangers, filter units, tubing and impellers in the chemical processing industry; knives, conveyors, bowls, rolls, packaging equipment, drills, bearing housings, guides and gears in the food processing, pharmaceutical, medical and dental industries; rocker arms, gears, carburetors, brake and shock absorber components, fuel injection parts and plastic parts in the automotive industry; and electronic components such as resisters, capacitors, memory discs, cabinets, laser mirrors, connectors, heat sinks and printed circuit boards.