Development of green electroless plating baths

Description

Electroless nickel-boron presents high hardness, natural lubricating properties, and good wear, abrasion and corrosion resistance. However, standard electroless NiB plating uses hazardous substances to stabilize and regulate the plating bath, that can cause severe harm to both human health and the environment. Thallium (III), is probably the most effective agent and has been widely used. However, because of its attested toxicity, thallium is now banned in the European market. More recently, most the baths operate with lead (II) salts as stabilizer. However, the attested toxicity of lead has increased the pressure on the research for alternatives due to non-compliance of the available formulations with environmental legislation. Removal of lead from the electroless nickel-boron plating baths has been strongly encouraged. This project aims to develop a green electroless NiB coatings with the objective to reach the wear and corrosion behaviors similar to those presented by the standard NiB coatings. A secondary objective of this project is the increase of bath recyclability .