Best Practice Available for Electroless Nickel Plating

Electroless nickel (EN) in standard operation suffers from limited bath life. The chemical reactions generate by-products that accumulate in the bath and decrease the overall quality of the plating solution requiring new bath make-ups, thus generate tremendous amounts of waste.

To improve the efficiency of electroless nickel processes, Atotech developed a fully automated electrodialysis system. Combining chemistry and equipment, the EDEN® system keeps the concentration of all bath ingredients constant over an unlimited bath life. 

Features and Benefits

• Theoretical unlimited bath-life extension, for more than 7,000 MTO’s (Metal Turnover)
• Higher productivity due to constant high plating rate, higher bath loading (up to 70% more),
  higher yield, less rework, less down time (less tank stripping, less solution make-ups)
• Consistent high quality, uniform coating properties and appearance
• Easy automation, no adjustment of temperature, pH etc.
• Lower maintenance, optional automated replenishment
• No ammonia – easier waste treatment, reduction in waste volume and concentration
• Suitable for ISO 9000/14000 operation

The EDEN® system selectively separates the by-products by transferring them through ion selective membranes within an electrical field into a waste compartment. Connected with just two pipes to the plating bath, EDEN® operates continuously without any process interruption. Its units are modular, can be installed in different ways (even on different floor levels) and are capable of handling more than one plating bath in multi-tank design.

Optimum process performance is achieved with the adapted EDEN® EN bath compositions – EDEN® Product Range.