Evaluation of Electroless-Nickel Plated Polypropylene under Thermal Cycling and Mechanical Tests

Abstract

The electroless-nickel composite (ENC) consisting of bright metallic electroless-nickel (EN) and dull electroless-nickel-phosphorus (EN-P) were deposited on the polypropylene (PP) substrate from the sodium hypophosphite baths. The ENC plated specimens were subjected to abrasive wear-adhesion test of 1750, 3500, 7000 and 14000 cycles; thermal cycle-adhesion tests, and tensile strength and creep tests. The deposition of ENC influenced the strength and creep strain properties of the PP. The maximum stress σ of 118 (MPa) was obtained from EN-PP specimen at strain  of 0.1 mm/mm as compared with the PP having stress σ of 36 (MPa) at strain  of 0.07 mm/mm before failure The surface appearances and microstructures of ENC film on PP substrates were examined under the higher resolution metallurgical microscope with digital camera and microscopic camera. The composition of ENC film was characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-Ray analyses (Jeol JSM-7600F Field Emission) SEM/EDX, The micrographs and spectra lines data generated were used to interpret the results.

Keywords

• Polypropylene
• Electroless-nickel plating
• Abrasive wear
• Thermal cycle
• Creep