Electroless copper plating on particulate reinforcements and effects on mechanical properties of SiC p /Fe composite

Abstract

The electroless copper plating process on the powder of SiC has been investigated. Thickness of the coating was tailored by the amount of copper salt added in the bath with a molar ratio of 4∶1 between reducing agent of sodium hypophosphite and copper salt. It is also found that mixed complexing agent improves the smoothness of the coating surface. Compared with mechanical properties of the SiC_p/Fe composites with and without copper coating, it is shown that the copper coating improves the tensile strength by 12·6% and the final elongation by 18·1% with the SiC volume fraction of 20%. Moreover, further investigation shows that the copper coating has a same effect on the tensile strength improvement as a similar nickel coating process but has a significantly better effect on improvement of the final elongation of the composite.

Keywords

Electroless copper plating Sodium hypophosphite Particulate reinforcements Metal matrix composites

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Chen

, Chou

and Chu

: ‘A novel high-sensitive Pd/InP hydrogen sensor fabricated by electroless plating’, Sens. Actuators B, 2002, 85B, 10–18.

Chen

, Liu

RLH

, Chen

, Shu

and Ger

: ‘Microwave-assisted activation for electroless nickel plating on PMMA microspheres’, Appl. Surf. Sci., 2011, 257, 6734–6740.

Honma

: ‘Plating technology for electronics packaging’, Electrochim. Acta, 2001, 47, 75–84.

Rajan

TPD

, Pillai

and Pai

: ‘Reinforcement coatings and interfaces in aluminium metal matrix composites’, J. Mater. Sci., 1998, 33, 3491–3503.

and Zhang

: ‘Preparation and characterization of monodispersed PS/Ag composite microspheres through modified electroless plating’, Appl. Surf. Sci., 2012, 258, 7774–7780.

Krishnan

, John

, Srinivasan

, Praveen

, Ganesan

and Kavimani

: ‘An overall aspect of electroless Ni–P depositions – a review article’, Metall. Mater. Trans. A, 2006, 37A, 1917–1926.

Sudagar

, Lian

and Sha

: ‘Electroless nickel, alloy, composite and nano coatings – a critical review’, J. Alloys Compd, 2013, 571, 183–204.

Cui

, Jin

, Li

, Yang

, Li

and Wang

: ‘Electroless Ni–P plating with a phytic acid pretreatment on AZ91D magnesium alloy’, Mater. Chem. Phys., 2010, 121, 308–313.

Tang

, Bi

, Han

and Zhang

: ‘A new palladium-free surface activation process for Ni electroless plating on ABS plastic’, Mater. Lett., 2009, 63, 840–842.

10.

Guo

, Jiang

, Yuen

CWM

and Ng

MCF

: ‘An alternative process for electroless copper plating on polyester fabric’, J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron., 2009, 20, 33–38.

11.

, Hayden

and Kohl

: ‘The influence of 2, 2’-dipyridyl on non-formaldehyde electroless copper plating’, Electrochim. Acta, 2004, 49, 1789–1795.

12.

Gan

, Zhou

, Hu

and Zhang

: ‘Role of additives in electroless copper plating using hypophosphite as reducing agent’, Surf. Coat. Technol., 2012, 206, 3405–3409.

13.

Sharma

, Agarwala

and Agarwala

: ‘Development of copper coatings on ceramic powder by electroless technique’, Appl. Surf. Sci., 2006, 252, 8487–8493.

14.

Zhu

, Tang

, Cui

, Wei

and Yang

: ‘Preparation of copper-coated β-SiC nanoparticles by electroless plating’, Surf. Coat. Technol., 2011, 205, 2985–2988.

15.

Zhang

, Zong

, Cao

and Zhang

: ‘Effects of chemical Ni plating of reinforcing particles on properties of SiC_p/Fe composite’, Chin. J. Mater. Res., 2012, 26, 483–488.

16.

and Wang

: ‘Fabrication and mechanical properties of SiC_w/ZK51A magnesium matrix composite by two-step squeeze casting’, Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 2000, A278, 267–271.

17.

Nofar

, Hosseini

HRM

and Daroonkolaie

: ‘Fabrication of high wear resistant Al/Al₃Ti metal matrix composite by in situ hot press method’, Mater. Des., 2009, 30, 280–286.

18.

Niu

, Hojamberdiev

and Xu

: ‘Preparation of in situ-formed WC/Fe composite on gray cast iron substrate by a centrifugal casting process’, J. Mater. Process. Technol., 2010, 210, 1986–1990.

19.

Zhuang

, Zong

, Wang

and Yang

: ‘Processing and properties of SiC_p/Fe composites by resistance sintering with a novel dynamic temperature control’, J. Compos. Mater., 2013, 47, 1001–1010.

20.

, Zong

, Wang

and Zhuang

: ‘Experiment and modeling of mechanical properties on iron matrix composites reinforced by different types of ceramic particles’, Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 2010, A527, 7545–7551.

21.

Davidson

and Regener

: ‘A comparison of aluminium-based metal-matrix composites reinforced with coated and uncoated particulate silicon carbide’, Compos. Sci. Technol., 2000, 60, 865–869.

22.

Cheng

, Xu

, Zhang

and Yiao

: ‘Electroless copper plating using hypophosphite as reducing agent’, Met. Finish., 1997, 95, 34–37.

23.

Gaudiello

and Ballard

: ‘Mechanistic insights into metal-mediated electroless copper plating employing hypophosphite as a reducing agent’, IBM J. Res. Dev., 1993, 37, 107–115.

24.

Faraji

, Rahim

, Mohamed

and Sipaut

: ‘A study of electroless copper-phosphorus coatings with the addition of silicon carbide (SiC) and graphite (C_g) particles’, Surf. Coat. Technol., 2011, 206, 1259–1268.

25.

Hung

and Chen

: ‘Mechanism of hypophosphite-reduced electroless copper plating’, J. Electrochem. Soc., 1989, 136, 72–75.

26.

Gutzeit

and Mapp

: ‘Chemical nickel plating’, Corros. Technol., 1956, 3, 331–336.

27.

Lin

and Yen

: ‘Effects of additives and chelating agents on electroless copper plating’, Appl. Surf. Sci., 2001, 178, 116–126.

28.

Sha

, Wu

and Keong

: ‘Electroless copper and nickel-phosphorus plating: processing, characterisation and modeling’, 117–134; 2010, Cambridge, Woodhead Publishing.

29.

Gan

, Wu

, Liu

, Shen

and Hu

: ‘Electroless copper plating on PET fabrics using hypophosphite as reducing agent’, Surf. Coat. Technol., 2007, 201, 7018–7023.

30.

Tang

, Zheng

, Ding

and Jin

: ‘Control of the interface reaction between silicon carbide and iron’, Mater. Chem. Phys., 2003, 80, 360–365.