Electroplated Coating Superior to Electroless Nickel
Xtalic’s XPROTECTTM coating is an excellent alternative to electroless nickel coatings. It provides superior wear resistance to hard chromium, at least equal corrosion protection to electroless nickel and can be rapidly electroplated out of a easy to maintain and long-lived bath.
Limitations of Electroless Nickel
Electroless nickel-phosphorous coatings are claimed to provide good corrosion and wear resistant properties, but the wear performance of as plated electroless nickel coatings is much less than commonly used materials like hard chromium. Electroless nickel coatings are commonly used in industrial applications for their good corrosion resistant properties. In order to increase their hardness they are often heat treated which does somewhat improve their wear properties, although still not to the level of hard chromium. However, heat treating has the side effect of reducing, sometimes dramatically, the good corrosion resistance properties of the electroless nickel coating. The result is that electroless nickel is not a good solution for applications where a high degree of both wear resistance and corrosion resistance are needed.
Superior Wear Resistance
The XPROTECTTM coating provides far superior wear resistance to electroless nickel-phosphorous coatings, whether heat treated or as plated while affording equal or better corrosion protection. The corrosion resistance of the XPROTECTTM coating is not degraded by heat treatment or by use in high temperature service environments. The XPROTECTTM coating will become harder upon heating and its already outstanding wear resistance will be further improved with no detrimental effect on its corrosion performance.
Better Bath Life
Electroless nickel process chemistry has a limited lifetime due to the accumulation of by-products in the plating solution necessitating frequent dumps and new make-ups. In contrast, the XPROTECTTM process chemistry has an indefinite life requiring only periodic carbon treatment.
Faster Deposition
The deposition rate for electroless nickel is slow: typically 0.3 - 0.4 mils/hour for high-phosphorous processes which are the ones providing the best corrosion resistance. XPROTECTTM typically has a much higher deposition rate of 1.0 -1.25 mils/hour. The faster deposition rate can dramatically reduce overall processing time.
Overall, Xtalic’s alloy coating is an excellent replacement for electroless nickel.