Effect of bath temperature on electroplating of nickel on a copper substrate

Sherwin, Canute, Goudar, Dayanand M ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0085-401X, Haider, Julfikar ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7010-8285, Pinto, Deesy G and Raju, K (2024) Effect of bath temperature on electroplating of nickel on a copper substrate. Transactions of the Institute of Metal Finishing, 102 (4). pp. 190-198. ISSN 0020-2967

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Abstract

Nickel electroplating is known to be industrially effective for enhancing various substrate properties. In the present work, nickel coatings were developed on copper substrates by electroplating using standard nickel plating solution at various electrolyte bath temperatures ranging from 40 ± 2°C to 60 ± 2°C in steps of 10°C. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) were used to study the composition, phase structure and morphology of the coatings. The coatings were also analysed for hardness and porosity, and process current efficiency was measured. The electrolyte bath temperature has a profound effect on the nature of the developed nickel coatings, and is observed to have an impact on the surface morphology, crystallographic direction, and hardness, as well as deposition current efficiency.