Investigation of electroless nickel plating on acrylic substrate using NMP and cryene as solvents

• Main Author: Soong, Min Kiong
• Other Authors: Hirotaka Sato
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2022
• Subjects: Engineering::Manufacturing; Engineering::Materials
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/158897
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This study uses two organic solvents as the etching solutions for the electroless nickel plating (ENP) process on acrylic sheets. One solution comprised of N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and ethanol. The second solution comprised of Cyrene and ethanol. The ratios of each solution were varied and the results of the ENP were analysed. The experiments conducted in the study include the etching process, the catalysing process using palladium (II) chloride solution, and the ENP process. The idea of this study was to investigate the ENP process on acrylic, to find out how variations in the process affected the plating result. A confocal microscope was used to observe the surface of the acrylic samples after the ENP process. Software was used to obtain surface parameters. Peel adhesion test was conducted to analyse the adhesion of the plating.