ELECTROLESS DEPOSITION OF Ni-P ALLOYS ON CENOSPHERES BY USING SILVER AS THE CATALYST

Electroless deposition of Ni-P alloys on cenospheres is demonstrated in the present investigation. AgNO3 is used as an activator to replace the conventional PdCl2 activator and ${\rm H}_2{\rm PO}^-_2$ in the coating bath is used as the reducing agent to replace Sn2+ in order to lower the overall cost of the coating process. The coated cenospheres are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD). It shows that Ni-P alloys uniformly deposit on the surface of the cenospheres under experimental conditions. The possible mechanism of electroless Ni-P alloys coating of cenospheres by using silver as the catalyst is suggested.