NIPHOS® 966 Nickel-Phosphorus Electrolyte as Alternative to Electroless Nickel

NIPHOS® solution enables the electroplating of high-phosphorus nickel-phosphorus alloy coatings on barrel plating, rack plating, or reel-to-reel plating lines. Compared to high-phosphorus electroless nickel coatings, the electroplated nickel-phosphorus coating is amorphous, non-magnetic, wear-resistant, and corrosion-resistant. The coating can be used either as an intermediate layer (before tin, chromium, or gold plating) or as a final finish. Compared with electroless nickel, the solution operates at lower temperatures.

The Nickel-Phosphorus solution can use soluble anodes (Ni), insoluble anodes (platinum-coated or MMO), or a combination of both. The bath lifetime is nearly unlimited, similar to bright nickel solutions. The solution is insensitive to metallic impurities, does not cause random plating, and contains no halides, lead, or cadmium.

Plating Solution Characteristics

• Plating solution type: Acidic
• Metal content: 80 (60 – 90) g/l Ni; 25 (22 – 28) g/l P
• pH value: 2.6 (2.5 – 2.7)
• Operating temperature: 60 (55 – 75) °C
• Current density range – Rack plating: 4 (3 – 5) A/dm²
• Current density range – Barrel plating: 1.5 (1 – 2) A/dm²
• Plating speed – Rack plating at 4 A/dm²: 0.4 μm/min
• Plating speed – Barrel plating at 1.5 A/dm²: 0.15 μm/min
• Anode material: Nickel (S-type) or Pt-Ti, MMO (PLATINODE® 177 type)

Coating Characteristics

• Coating: Nickel – phosphorus
• Alloy composition: 87 – 89 wt.% Ni; 11 – 13 wt.% P
• Coating color: Steel gray
• Brightness: Bright
• Hardness: 550 – 600 HV
• Coating density: Approx. 7.8 g/cm³

Advantages

• Up to 50% lower cost than electroless nickel
• High phosphorus content P > 11%
• Easy maintenance at 60 °C
• Long bath lifetime
• Free from halides, sulfur, and heavy metals such as lead and cadmium
• Excellent solderability and bonding properties
• Suitable for rack plating, barrel plating, and reel-to-reel plating
• High hardness (up to 1,200 HV after heat treatment)
• Excellent wear and corrosion resistance
• Can be used as either a final coating or an intermediate layer

Applications

• Non-magnetic coatings for RF connectors
• Intermediate layer before gold plating on connectors
• Electroforming
• Hydraulic applications, e.g. piston rods