Study on Adhesion Properties and Process Parameters of Electroless Deposited Ni-P Alloy for PEEK and Its Modified Materials

Abstract

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and its fiber-reinforced materials are thermoplastic polymer materials with broad application prospects. Depositing Ni-P alloy on them can improve their poor conductivity and electromagnetic shielding performance, and further expand their application field. The application effect of the plated parts is significantly impacted by the bonding strength between PEEK and coating. The bonding strength between non-metallic substrate and coating is largely influenced by the surface characteristics of the substrate. Therefore, it is significant to study how the surface roughness of PEEK materials and the modified fibers in materials affect the adhesion of the coating. In this study, Ni-P alloy was electroless deposited on PEEK, 30% carbon-fiber-reinforced PEEK (CF30/PEEK), and 30% glass-fiber-reinforced PEEK (GF30/PEEK) with varying surface roughness. The influence of surface roughness and modified fibers on the coating adhesion was studied. Additionally, the effect of the concentrations of nickel sulfate, sodium hypophosphite, pH, and temperature on the deposition rate of the coating was investigated for the three materials. Based on the highest deposition rate, the process parameters were then optimized. The results demonstrated that as surface roughness increased, adhesion between substrate and coating first increased and then decreased. The surface roughness Ra of 0.4 μm produced the highest coating adhesion. Additionally, fiber-reinforced PEEK adhered to coatings more effectively than PEEK did. The mechanism of the difference in bonding strength between different PEEK-modified materials and coatings was revealed. The optimal process parameters were: nickel sulfate: 25 g/L, sodium hypophosphite: 30 g/L, pH: 5.0, and temperature: 70 °C.

Optimization of Plating Process on Inner Wall of Metal Pipe and Research on Coating Performance

“…Electro-brush plating has been widely used in the preparation of coatings due to these advantages [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. In addition, due to the excellent corrosion resistance, oxidation resistance in room temperature air, and no reaction with concentrated nitric acid, nickel has been widely used in electro-brush plating protection, repair, and remanufacturing technologies [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. Nickel-based metals are well suited to the requirements of this study for the protection and performance enhancement of the inner pipe wall.…”