What is the difference between electroless nickel plating and electroplating nickel?

 The last article introduced what is electroless nickel plating, and this article will introduce the related process of nickel plating. Electroless nickel plating and electroplating nickel are both nickel plating processes, but they are very different.

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1. The principle difference between electroless plating and electroplating is that electroplating requires additional current and anode, while electroless plating relies on the autocatalytic reaction that occurs on the metal surface.
2. The electroless nickel plating layer is extremely uniform. As long as the plating solution can be soaked and the solute exchange is sufficient, the plating layer will be very uniform and can almost achieve the effect of profiling.
3. Electroplating cannot be applied to the full surface of some workpieces with complex shapes, but electroless plating can be applied to workpieces of any shape.
4. The electroless nickel plating layer with high phosphorus is amorphous, and there is no crystal gap on the surface of the plating layer, while the electroplating layer is a typical crystalline plating layer.
5. Electroplating has an applied current, so the plating speed is faster than that of electroless plating. The plating of the same thickness is completed earlier than electroless plating.
6. The bonding force of electroless plating is generally higher than that of electroplating.
7. Since most of the electroless plating uses food-grade additives and does not use harmful substances such as cyanide, electroless plating is more environmentally friendly than electroplating.

8. Electroless plating is only one color of pure nickel-phosphorus alloy on the market, and electroplating can achieve many colors.

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