Summary for nickel copper plating blistering Discussion
Ni-Cu-Ni-Cu-Ni blistering is attributed by the answerer to poor surface cleanliness and contamination between plated layers. Mazhar Ul Islam asks why small bubbles appear after vacuum heat treatment at 900 °C for 2 hours and whether oxide layers should be removed before plating copper onto nickel. The reply says that when plating one metal on another, the base metal must be as clean as possible and free of oxide layers and other contamination; otherwise poor adhesion and bubbling of the upper layers can result. The answerer does not give a detailed process sequence for which metal should be plated first, but stresses that proper cleaning is essential before each plating step. He also suggests the questioner read basic metal finishing books, since they would address these and related adhesion questions more fully.
Q. I electroplated layers of Ni and Cu on mild steel substrate first Ni then Cu then Ni then Cu and then Ni; each layer 10micron. When I heat treated at vacuum the sample for diffusion for 2 hour at 900 °C on cooling small bubble appear on the surface. 1)I don’t know the reason and I don’t want these bubbles I want these layers as smooth as before heat treatment. 2)I electroplated Ni first and simply washed the sample and on that plated a layer of Cu without any treatment i)Should I remove the oxide layer on both Ni and Cu or not. thanks for valuable suggestions in anticipation
I want to electroplate layers of Ni and Cu on mild steel substrate, but I don’t know how to prepare the substrate for strong adhesion and to electroplate which element first .If I plate Ni first then will that layer be pretreated for Cu electrodeposition and vice versa.please help me .
Mazhar Ul Islam
student – Islamabad, Pakistan
2004
A. I presume you are the same person who submitted
29905, asking about diffusion rates. I would firstly say that when plating one metal on top of another, you must ensure the base metal is as clean as possible. That means it is free from oxide layers and any other surface contamination. If it is not, you will get poor adhesion and bubbling of the upper layers. I would also recommend that you invest some time in reading some books on basic metal finishing as this will answer all the questions you have as well as many more you haven’t yet thought of.
Trevor Crichton
R&D practical scientist
Chesham, Bucks, UK