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By Dr. S. Alec Watson, Dec 1990. Most nickel plating, it is noted, is carried out in solutions based upon the Watts formulation to which organic chemicals have been added. For convenience, the organic addition agents are usually divided into brighteners, stress reducers, levelling agents and wetting agents according to their main function in the solution as designed by the solution formulator, but most addition agents affect several properties of the nickel deposit. Many addition agents alter the structure of the nickel and increase its hardness, and those that lead to incorporation of sulphur into the nickel increase its electrochemical activity. Organic addition agents form breakdown products in use, and when these accumulate in the solution they must be removed in order to prevent deterioration in the properties of the nickel deposits. Further quantities of addition agents must be added at intervals to replace the material consumed. For these reasons, control of solutions containing organic additives is more involved than control of a plain Watts solution. Brighteners, levelling and wetting agents are discussed, as are the effects of addition agents on cathode efficiency, on corrosion resistance and on hardness.

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