1. Organically Stabilised Electroless Nickel
NiKlad ELV 835
Organically Stabilised Electroless Nickel

2. Why an Organically Stabilized EN
RoHS/WEEE/ELV legislation
Limits metal stabilizers
Competitors reverted to early stabilizers system
Technical issues with early systems
More stringent controls being introduced
NSF/51
JPSSFI
Pressure from large OEM’s and Countries
Volvo Black list
China ELV

3. Issues with Existing Processes
Earlier Stabilizers
Already replaced by Lead and Cadmium for process improvements
Re-used as Cadmium and Lead removed
Issues with early formulations
Product stability
Semi matrix systems difficult to produce
Activation of some substrates is very poor, e.g. copper alloys

4. Organic Stabilisers
They do not presently fall into any “prospective” environmental legislation
Originally developed 20 years ago
Elnic 100 organically stabilised
First generation had technical limitations
Work started on next generation 3 years ago
Initially, only available as semi bright
Were more difficult to control

5. Newer Processes Development over past 2 years
Family of 4 processes now developed and in use:
Mid Phos 6 – 9% NiKlad ELV 838
Low Mid Phos 4 – 6% NiKlad ELV 835
Low Phos 1 – 3 % NiKlad ELV 824
EN Strike NiKlad ELV 831

6. NiKlad ELV 835 Equipment & Operation Experience Substrates
Polypropylene tanks - OK
Stainless Steel tanks - OK
6 g/L Nickel use - OK
LMO™ - OK
Substrates
Steel - OK
Copper - OK
Brass - OK
Aluminum (cast/wrought) - OK
Thicknesses from 0.1 to 11 mils
In use at 8 applicators
Mid Phos.

7. Why Use These Baths
RoHS compliant, and as long as the use of nickel is still acceptable….
No shelf life issues for product stability
Can be used as LMO*
Easy to use and tolerant to abuse
* Low Metal Operation

8. Deposit Composition
Deposit contains only nickel, phosphorus, carbon and sulphur
Carbon and sulphur contents are similar to conventional low medium phosphorus

9. Deposit Composition NiKlad 767 ppm NiKlad ELV 835 MTO’s Carbon Sulphur
< 200
173
< 400
< 50 6
414
561

10. NiKlad ELV 835 - Experiences
Stability
Used in Anodically Protected Stainless Steel
Polypropylene
No issues, in fact opinion was in favour of superior stability over conventional systems and at least as good as the ELV systems

11. NiKlad ELV 835- Speed

12. NLV Speed
Many customers can achieve over 1 mil/Hr (25ums/Hr), even when the bath is old
It can be difficult to load the bath when plating this fast
Customers are using 10 – 15 oF (6 – 9oC)lower temperature at nominally the same speed
Saving energy over older chemistry

13. NiKlad ELV Speed

14. NiKlad ELV Gloss

15. NiKlad ELV Gloss
Brightness is slightly reduced when compared to conventional systems
This is very true for a new bath
Brightness is comparable to other ELV processes
Brightness very consistent over the bath life
Some customers like this consistency

16. NiKlad ELV Stress

17. NiKlad ELV Hardness

18. NiKlad ELV Hardness
The hardness and wear resistance is superior to medium phosphorus baths
It is similar to conventional baths with similar phosphorus contents

19. NiKlad ELV Wear

20. NiKlad ELV Wear

21. NiKlad ELV 835 - Corrosion Resistance
The process performs to the same standard as 5 – 7% phosphorus baths at customers
Electrochemical testing shows similar results with medium and low medium phosphorus baths
NSS testing gave > 120 hours with a new solution and 1 mil plating

22. NiKlad ELV 835 - Corrosion Resistance
96 Hours

23. NiKlad ELV 835 - Corrosion Resistance
144 Hours

24. NiKlad ELV 835 - Operational Experience
Effect of large additions
Operation as an LMO
Bath Loading
Use of lower temperatures
Activation of Substrates

25. NiKlad ELV 835 - Operational Experience
Effect of large additions
Bath is less sensitive to large additions than conventional chemistry
Largest addition made was >60% in a single addition
Bath continued to plate with little or no negative effects

26. NiKlad ELV 835 - Operational Experience
Operation as an LMO
Ideal, due to low sensitivity to additions
Operation as a LMO does not require controllers
Bath Loading
Bath functions in a wide range of bath loadings, from 0.01 to 1.5 ft2/gal (0.03 – 4.0 dm2/L)

27. NiKlad ELV 835 - Operational Experience
Use of lower temperatures
As stated earlier, due to the high speed it is possible to reduce the temperature and still obtain good rates
Activation of Substrates
Unlike some of the ELV compliant chemistries, activation is very fast

28. NiKlad ELV 835 - Operational Experience
Bath Life
The bath consumes hypophosphite at the same rate as a normal low medium phosphorus bath.
Can be used to > 8 MTO’s
Due to low stress and high speed useful life is greater than the older conventional systems
Life on aluminum is at least as good as the older conventional systems
6 MTO’s on 7075 alloy with no strike

29. NiKlad ELV 835 - Operational Experience
Pretreatment
Good pretreatment is critical for these processes
Can drag in organics reducing the effectiveness of the stabilisers
It does not smooth over smut as effectively as a cadmium brightened bath
You cannot easily activate copper and brass using palladium

30. NiKlad ELV Summary
The use of non metallic stabilisers as a viable alternative to the traditional metallic systems is now production proven
These baths have few disadvantages and many advantages including:
Speed
Energy Efficiency
Product Stability
Future Proofing