Electroless nickel

The functional nickel-phosphorous surface electroless nickel, also known as nickel phosphorous (NiP), functional nickel or chemical nickel, provides a high degree of durability and corrosion protection as well as outstanding dimensional stability. Electroless nickel furthermore has a very accurate outline when deposited.

Electroless nickel: process and advantages

The chemical nickel layer is deposited in an electroless chemical process. Electroless nickel can be plated on practically all types of metal and alloy with great dimensional accuracy. Autocatalytically generated nickel layers are highly suitable for parts with intricate component geometries, even interior platings can be implemented to a certain degree.

Electroless nickel (EN) layers are wear resistant as well as corrosion protective. Furthermore, electroless nickel coatings are conductive. As electroless nickel high phosphorous (high phos) with more than 10 % phosphorous the plating also is nonmagnetic.

At the same time, the dimensionally accurate plating is very durable and provides a high corrosion protection level. Electroless nickel (EN) is also solderable. We offer electroless nickel in low, medium and high phosphorous concentrations.

Electroless nickel coatings for a great variety of requirements

We offer a nickel-phosphor-finishing in numerous versions:

With various shares of phosphorus for different requirements regarding both corrosion and wear protection
Surface is very good solderable
Electroless nickel finish for practically all types of metal and alloy as well as aluminium and sintered materials
Electroless nickel as rack and barrel plating
Electroless nickel can be used in combination with other surface finishings such as silver or tin – thus, further requirements can be fulfilled
For more information please check our site on combined surfaces

Electroless nickel with various shares of phosporus

We offer electroless nickel as low, mid and high phos. The share of phosphorus is significant responsible for the subsequent physical properties of the layer. Phosphorous concentrations of approx. 10% provide a high level of corrosion protection. The degree of wear protection provided by electroless nickel or nickel phosphorous (NiP) increases as the phosphorous content is lowered and can be further improved by means of the respective phosphorous content and heat treatment (up to 1000 HV).

High-phosphorus for good corrosion protection

Corrosion protection: > 300 hours in neutral salt spray test
Hardness: > 470 HV
Phosphorus rate: 9-13 %
Electroless nickel coatings are nonmagnetic
Good electrical and thermal conductivity
Good ductility

Medium-phosphor for good wear protection

Phosphorus rate: 6-9 %
Hardness: > 600 HV directly after plating (gradable with heat treatment > 1.000 HV)

Low-phosphor for high wear protection

Phosphorus rate: < 6 %
Hardness: > 700 HV

Specialty: solderable electroless nickel

We offer a lot of know-how in depositing solderable electroless nickel layers. This solderable variation of electroless nickel plating is particularly interesting for cooling plates, i.e. for break and control systems in the automotive industry, or for the use in cooling elements (electronics) and cases for control systems. The solderability of the surface is often critical to ensure the heat conduction of the parts, i.e. for aluminium parts.
The positive substance jointing, achieved with soldering the plated parts, supports the heat conduction and thus can improve the functionality of the parts. Under certain circumstances agreed with the customer, we can offer solderable electroless nickel layers which do not need a subsequent cleaning of circumferential areas of the soldering joints.

We offer electroless nickel with low, medium and high phosphorus shares and thus cover the different requirements regarding wear and corrosion protection. Furthermore, we offer special know-how and long experience in plating aluminum with electroless nickel. We offer electroless nickel both as rack and barrel plating.

Advantages
Please note
Areas of usage
Contacts

Functional surface for protection against corrosion and wear and tear both indoors and outdoors
The appearance of the chemical nickel layer depends greatly on the previous processing of the base material: blasted surfaces remain matt, polished surfaces remain glossy
Dimensionally stable layers within 2µm tolerance
We offer the entire range of chemical nickel, including low-, medium- and high-phosphorous concentrations
The various chemical nickel layers can be combined with one another, e.g. one layer with high phosphorous content to provide good corrosion protection and one layer with low phosphorous content to provide excellent wear protection, which is plated onto the
Nonmagentic with a phosphoroues share of >10% (high phos)
Electroless nickel surfaces provide excellent mechanical /technological characteristics.
EN high phos has a very good ductility and can be used in high-voltage areas (over 20.000 volt)
RoHS-compliant
Chemisch Nickel mit hohem Phosphorgehalt ist im Hochspannungsbereich über 20.000 Volt geeignet
Layers with extraordinary accuracy and very homogeneous layer thickness
High wear resistance
High hardness
High chemical resistance
Low friction coefficient
Can be soldered
Layer structure free of lead and cadmium
For both rack and barrel (high phos only rack plating)

DIN EN ISO 4527 (formerly DIN 50966)

Without appropriate post-treatment, the surface will be very prone to fingerprint effects. We provide special know-how and many years of experience when it comes to the finishing of aluminium components.