At a time when many businesses are looking to keep costs down as much as possible, those that use metal plating might want to consider electroless nickel plating, which can be a cost-effective solution.
What is electroless nickel plating?
Electroless nickel plating doesn’t require an electrical current or any outside power source to cover a metal surface, which means it is not as expensive as electroplating. As nickel is a cheaper metal, it also costs less than metals such as platinum, gold, and silver.
The nickel alloy is deposited through the use of chemical reduction, using an agent to reduce the nickel ions into metallic nickel. Electroless nickel coating also has the benefit of being very resistant to corrosion. You can find out more about the types of surface it can be applied to from specialists such as poeton.co.uk/surface-treatments/plating/electroless-nickel-plating/.
Nickel plating is used for a combination of corrosion and wear resistance, with more than 150,000 tonnes of electroplated nickel used worldwide every year.
Keeping costs down
The total cost of nickel plating depends on several factors, including hardness and wear qualities, the amount of atmospheric protection required, and coating features. Both the availability of the components and the market conditions also have an effect on the overall cost.
To keep costs down, the advice is to use a bath matrix that consists of a nickel-phosphorus alloy. Nickel-baron composites are the most expensive and will lead to a higher cost. Although the price of basic electroless matrix coatings has dropped, the need for more specialist coatings has increased the costs generally. .