Electroless Nickel on Titanium Revisited
One of our readers had a suggestion for getting a stronger bond between electroless nickel and the titanium substrate.
One of our readers had a suggestion for getting a stronger bond between electroless nickel and the titanium substrate. The suggestion is to add a bake step after the deposition of the electroless nickel. The original question and answer is repeated below with the bake step added.
Question:
How can we deposit electroless nickel on titanium parts? F. A.
Answer:
The key to getting a good adhesive layer of electroless nickel on titanium is proper preparation of the titanium substrate. In the book, Electroless Nickel Plating, Wolfgang Riedel, ASM International, www.asm-intl.org, the following procedure is suggested:
- Vapor degrease
- Blast using 220 mesh alumina at 4 bar
- Rinse thoroughly
- Etch using 400 g/L HNO3 + 5 g/L HF for 5 minutes
- Rinse thoroughly
- Activate using a Wood’s nickel strike
- Rinse thoroughly
- Electroless nickel plate
- Bake at 750oF for 30–60 minutes (added step)
The important thing to remember is that titanium forms a rather tenacious oxide on the surface almost instantaneously when exposed to the atmosphere. Hence, the steps in the above process must be performed rapidly.
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