Process and deposit characterization of electroless Ni-P-B plating on the surface of quartz optical fiber

The effects of the contents of NiCl2·6H2O,NaH2PO2·H2O,KBH4,H2NCH2CH2NH2 and 3CdSO4·8H2O as well as temperature on electroless Ni-P-B plating on quartz optical fiber surface were studied by orthogonal test with the brightness and adhesion of Ni-P-B coatings as two evaluation indexes. The optimal values of the six factors mentioned above were determined as follows: 24 g/L,10 g/L,1.0 g/L,24 mL/L,0.6 mg/L and 90 °C,respectively. The effect of roughening time on film quality was examined. The morphology,composition and microstructure of the Ni-P-B deposit were characterized and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM),stereomicroscopy (SM),inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results showed that the Ni-P-B film deposited under the conditions of selected pretreatment and the optimal electroless plating features smooth and bright surface as well as good adhesion,and has no blistering and falling off after thermal shock test.