Nickel plated

Nickel plating is the method which plating a layer of nickel on metals or non-metals by electrolysis or chemical methods.Nickel plating is divided into electrolytic nickel plating and electroless nickel plating.

Electrolytic nickel plating is the process which electrolyte composed of nickel salt or main salt, conductive salt, pH buffer and wetting agent, and which anode is metallic nickel and the cathode is the plating part. When  apply a direct current, the cathode or the plating part will be deposited with a uniform and dense nickel plating layer. The nickel coating which comes from the bath with brightener is bright nickel, and the one comes from the bath without brightener is dark nickel.

Nickle Plating

Electroless nickel plating is also called autocatalytic nickel plating. Electroless nickel plating is the process in which the nickel ions of the aqueous solution are reduced by the reducing agent under certain conditions, and precipitated on the surface of the solid substrate. Compared with electrolytic nickel plating, electroless nickel plating does not require passing an electric current through the bath and substrate. 

Electroless Nickel Plating

Electroless Nickel Plating

Electroless nickel plating is a method which  deposits a layer of nickel on the surface of metal parts by redox without using external current.

Electroless nickel plating is used to improve corrosion resistance and wear resistance, and increase gloss and beauty. Electroless nickel plating is suitable for bright nickel plating of tubular or small parts with complex shapes, and needn't polishing any more. Generally, the plating part is immersed in a mixed solution of nickel sulfate, sodium dihydrogen hypophosphite, sodium acetate and boric acid, then it will be changed under a certain acidity and temperature. The nickel ions in the solution will be reduced to atoms by sodium dihydrogen hypophosphite, then they will be deposited on the surface of the part to form a fine and bright nickel plating layer. Steel parts can be  plated with nickel directly. Tin, copper and copper alloy parts should  be contacted  with  the surface of the aluminum sheet first, which need  1-3 minutes to accelerate the electroless nickel plating.

Stainless Steel Parts with Electroless Nickel Plating