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Acid copper plating bath is contaminated with nickel

December 14, 2010

our shop is doing plating on plastic

the line sequence is:
etching , catalyzer, accelerator, chemical nickel, acidic copper.

we did an analysis for nickel in the acid copper bath with atomic absorption ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil link] .

the results were:
Tank 1: 450 mg/l
Tank 2: 448 mg/l

Do you have any idea about the results. If the result is okay or not?

Arda Basaran
plating on plastic - Istanbul, Turkey

December 16, 2010

Hi Arda,

Electrolytic acid copper bath has a Fe plus Ni tolerance around 1000 ppm. Too high will reduce Cu ductility and affect deposit appearance (e.g. pitting).

You may prolong rinse between EN and acid Cu or insert acid predip prior copper plating.

Best regards,
David

David Shiu
- Singapore

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