Conductive Plastics Electronickelling Attributing For Electroplated

Conductive plastic not only has good machinability and lower density, but also has high mechanical strength and thermal stability. Therefore, it has been used in various areas. Nickel coating can modify appearance of conductive plastic, enhance its surface hardness and electronic conductivity, and then widen its application.In this work, nickel plating on the surface of conductive plastics is experimentally investigated. The technical conditions, which can affect performance of the coating, are discussed. Nickel coatings are examined by optical microscope and scanning electron microscope, and the electrochemical behavior of nickel coating in NaCl aqueous solution is also investigated by electrochemical measurements.The nickel coating with high adhesion to the base conductive plastic can be obtained under a mechanical stir condition or in ultrasonic field after a chemical roughening treatment of the plastic. The size of crystal particles in the coatings is enhanced by increasing the current density of plating, and ultrasonic field can make the crystal particles size-homogeneous and spherical. The deposition rate of nickel is increased with the plating temperature increasing in ultrasonic field, while the optimum temperature for nickel plating is about 50℃under the mechanical stir condition. The shiny nickel coating has a stronger corrosion resistance in a NaCl solution than that of the rough one.