REVIEW ON ELECTROLESS PLATING Ni–P COATINGS FOR IMPROVING SURFACE PERFORMANCE OF STEEL

Electroless plating has been considered as an effective approach to provide protection and enhancement for metallic materials with many excellent properties in engineering field. This paper begins with a brief introduction of the fundamental aspects underlying the technological principles and conventional process of electroless nickel–phosphorus (Ni–P) coatings. Then this paper discusses different electroless nickel plating, including binary plating, ternary composite plating and nickel plating with nanoparticles and rare earth, with the intention of improving the surface performance on steel substrate in recent years in detail. Based on different coating process, the varied features depending on the processing parameters are highlighted. Separately, diverse preparation techniques aiming at improvement of plating efficiency are summarized. Moreover, in view of the outstanding performance, such as corrosion resistance, abrasive resistance and fatigue resistance, this paper critically reviews the behaviors and features of various electroless coatings under different conditions.