Plating Q&A: Electroless Nickel on Tungsten

Q. Can one apply electroless nickel over a tungsten metal matrix? S.T.

A. There are a couple of different procedures for doing this that are found in the plating literature. One such procedure is outlined in the book Electroless Plating – Fundamentals and Applications (1990), edited by Glenn O. Mallory and Juan B. Hadju.

The general procedure is as follows:

Alkaline potassium ferrocyanide soak, 215 g/L in 75 g/L potassium hydroxide, room temperature, for one min.
Rinse.
Boil in 10 percent potassium hydroxide for 10 min.
Rinse.
Dip in 10 percent hydrochloric acid for 30 sec.
Rinse.
Activate with palladium chloride (0.1–0.5 g/L in 1–3 mL/L hydrochloric acid).*
Rinse.
Electroless nickel plate.

*A Wood’s nickel strike may be substituted in some cases.

To read more of Art Kushner's answers to plating, questions, click HERE

Related Content

NASF/AESF Foundation Research Project #122: Electrochemical Approaches to Treatment of PFAS in Plating Wastewater - 12th Quarterly Report

This NASF-AESF Foundation research project report covers the 12th quarter of project work (October – December 2023) at the University of Georgia. In our previous report, we described our work on performance and effect of surface fluorinated Ti4O7 anodes on PFAS degradation in reactive electrochemical membrane (REM) mode. This quarter, our experiments involved utilizing porous Ti4O7 plates serving both as anodes and membranes. Tests compared pristine and F-18.6 Ti4O7 anodes at current densities of 10 mA/cm2 and 40 mA/cm2. This 12th quarterly report discusses the mechanisms of the effects on EO performance by anode surface fluorination.
Hubbard-Hall Acquires BioConversion Technology

The acquisition adds experience and biologics to the AquaPure product line.
Zinc Phosphate: Questions and Answers

Our experts share specific questions about zinc phosphate and pretreatment