Brightness and Crystal Orientation of Electroless Nickel Deposits Using Hydrazine as a Reducing Agent

Authors developed electroless nickel depositing bath which has base composition of hydrazine with addition of EDTA and lactic acid. The bath is stable and has high speed in deposition giving brightness to a coated film. A paper reports relationship between brightness and orientation of a coated Ni film, which was found by the investigation. Addition of formaldehyde or increased hydrazine concentration reduced deposition rate remarkably, thus producing preferential orientation of crystals to (200) which raised brightness.