Projects Day Competition 2012 (Cat 1 Experimental Research)

1. Alternative Method To Prevent Rust – Electroless Plating Group 1-023 Projects Day Competition 2012 (Cat 1 Experimental Research) Derrick Fung 2A407 John Leong 2A412 Sean Teh 2A420 Zhang Zhenglin 2A431

3. Rationale • Many metallic items around us gets rusty and scratched easily • The most common way of removing rust is electro plating ∴ We want to find an alternative and better method to prevent rust and surface scratches • Nickel salts is also used because it is the most commonly used in similar experiments and by industrial companies

4. To find out the relationship between the composition of nickel sulfate in the solution and the resistance to rust of the final plated product • To find out the relationship between the temperature of heat treatment to that of surface hardness of the final plated product *All of the above optimums will be compared to a conventional electro-plated optimum that we will both plate ourselves.

5. Hypothesis

6. Variables

7. Materials (Equipment/Apparatus) • Hot plate • Beakers • Thermometer • Surface hardness analytical instrument (to obtain ↑ precision for surface hardness)

8. Materials (Chemicals) • Nickel sulfate • Sodium hypophosphite • Aqueous ammonia (Ammonia Hydroxide) • Sodium carbonate • Sulfuric acid • Hydrochloric Acid

10. Methodology (Basic Outline)

11. Methodology (Experiment Process) Electroless plating solution preparation *Note that the above recipe is for 500 ml of plating solution

12. Methodology (Experimental Process) Passivation

13. Methodology (Experimental Process) Plating process

14. Methodology (Experimental Process) Plating process

15. Methodology (Collecting Data) Resistance to Rust

16. Methodology (Collecting Data) Surface hardness

17. Surface hardness analysis • Tip of analytical instrument • Vickers diamond pyramid • Knoopelongated diamond pyramid • The diamond applies force to the surface of the metal specimen and create a minute hole in the specimen • After that, by measuring the length between the two diagonal points on the square base of the pyramid, the micro surface hardness of the metal specimen can be determined

18. References • O'Mallory, G. (1990-2012). Electroless plating: Fundamentals and applications. (VP of Technology American Society of Civil Engineers). • Artistic Plating Company, Inc. Milwaukee, WI 5321. (2012). Electroless nickel plating a guide. Retrieved from http://www.artisticplating.net/pdf-files/metal-finishing/Nickel Plating/Electroless Nickel Plating - A Guide.pdf • H. Nakano, T. Itabashi, and H. Akahoshi, J.ElectrolessDeposited Cobalt-Tungsten-Boron Capping Barrier Metal on Damascene Copper Interconnection, Electrochem. Soc. 152, C163 (2005), DOI:10.1149/1.1860512 • Eugene J. O’Sullivan. (2011). Electroless deposition. In Z. Nagy (Ed.), Electrochemistry Encyclopedia IBM T.J. Watson Research Center P.O. Box 218, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA : IBM Research Division. Retrieved from http://electrochem.cwru.edu/encycl/art-d02-eless-dep.htm

19. References • Gordon England Metallurgist Consultants. (n.d.).Microhardness test. Retrieved from http://www.gordonengland.co.uk/hardness/microhardness.htm • NACE International. (2010). Corrosion artifacts (oxidizing solutions). Retrieved from http://events.nace.org/library/corrosion/Artifacts/oxidizing.asp • Helmut Fisher GMBH. (n.d.). Hardness measurement instruments. Retrieved from http://www.helmut-fischer.de/indexCountry.asp?CountryID=31&LanguageID=2&parentID=1901586

21. Any questions?