The influence of iodate ion additions to the bath on the deposition of electroless nickel on mild steel

An alkaline hypophosphite bath (0.1 M nickel sulphate, 0.2 M sodium hypophosphite, 0.2 M sodium acetate and 0.1 M malic acid, adjusted to pH 5) was used to produce Ni-P coatings on uncoated and electroless nickel pre-plated mild steel. The deposition was monitored by open-circuit potential-time monitoring vs. a saturated calomel reference electrode and potentiostatic current-time monitoring together with anodic and cathodic polarisation. Classical mixed potential theory was applied to the polarisation data to calculate the effect of controlled iodate ion additions (0-1000 ppm) as an accelerator to the electrolyte on the plating rate. The mixed potential and deposition current density increased gradually with potassium iodate concentration. The use of electrochemical data allowed the optimum iodate additive concentration to be established using simple instrumentation.