KR20130027492A - Glossy nickel plating material, electronic component comprising glossy nickel plating material, and process for production of glossy nickel plating material - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are a polished nickel plated material having a good appearance, an electronic component using the polished nickel plated material, and a method for producing the polished nickel plated material. A glossy nickel plating material is provided with the metal base material whose thickness of the processed altered layer of a surface is 0.2 micrometer or more, and the nickel plating layer formed in the surface of the metal base material.

Description

ELECTRONIC COMPONENT COMPRISING GLOSSY NICKEL PLATING MATERIAL, AND PROCESS FOR PRODUCTION OF GLOSSY NICKEL PLATING MATERIAL}

TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to the electronic component using a glossy nickel plating material, a glossy nickel plating material, and the manufacturing method of a glossy nickel plating material.

BACKGROUND ART Metallic substrates with glossy nickel plating are used for electronic components such as terminals, connectors, and metal ornaments. The problem at the time of manufacturing a bright nickel plating is that a plating appearance is influenced by the surface characteristic of a plating material. For example, when the brass (Cu-30% Zn) strip is subjected to bright nickel plating, if the brass material is a tempered material, a good gloss is not seen in the appearance after the plating, and the appearance that the cloudy appearance or the gloss and cloudiness are mixed It may become. Moreover, the same problem was confirmed also when giving a bright nickel plating to a phosphor bronze (Cu-8% Sn-P) strip.

In order to solve such a problem, the patent document 1 discloses the manufacturing method of the copper alloy excellent in plating property, for example. And according to this, it is described that especially silver plating or copper plating can be formed favorably by thinning the process-deterioration layer of the copper alloy surface.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-39804

However, although the above-mentioned copper alloy can be favorably applied to silver plating or copper plating, it is very difficult to obtain good gloss in luster nickel plating, and there is still room for improvement. Then, an object of this invention is to provide the manufacturing method of the glossy nickel plating material which has a favorable external appearance, the electronic component using a glossy nickel plating material, and a glossy nickel plating material.

MEANS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM As a result of earnestly examining, the present inventors discovered the fact that it is contrary to patent document 1 that a gloss nickel plating with favorable external appearance is obtained by forming a process-deterioration layer in the surface of the metal base material to which plating process is performed.

The present invention completed based on the above findings, in one aspect, is a glossy nickel plated material provided with a metal substrate having a thickness of the processed altered layer on the surface of 0.2 µm or more, and a nickel plating layer formed on the surface of the metal substrate.

In another embodiment of the glossy nickel plating material which concerns on this invention, the thickness of a process altered layer is 0.25-3.0 micrometers.

In another embodiment of the glossy nickel plating material which concerns on this invention, the thickness of a process altered layer is 0.3-2.0 micrometers.

In another embodiment of the glossy nickel plating material according to the present invention, the crystal grain size of nickel constituting the nickel plating layer is 0.3 µm or less.

In still another embodiment of the glossy nickel plating material according to the present invention, the crystal grain diameter of nickel constituting the nickel plating layer is 0.01 to 0.3 µm.

In still another embodiment of the glossy nickel plated material according to the present invention, the metal substrate is formed of stainless steel, copper, or a copper alloy.

In another aspect, the present invention is an electronic component using the glossy nickel plating material according to the present invention.

In yet another aspect, the present invention is a method for producing a glossy nickel plated material, wherein a metal substrate having a thickness of the processed altered layer on the surface thereof is 0.2 μm or more, and a nickel plated layer is formed on the surface thereof.

In one Embodiment of the manufacturing method of the glossy nickel plating material which concerns on this invention, the crystal grain diameter of nickel which comprises a nickel plating layer is 0.01-0.3 micrometer or less.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a glossy nickel plated material having a good appearance, an electronic component using a glossy nickel plated material, and a method for producing a glossy nickel plated material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is an expanded sectional view of the brass base material, the processing altered layer, and the nickel plating layer which concerns on Example 3. FIG.

(Metal base)

Although there is no restriction | limiting in particular in the form of the metal base material which can be used for this invention, For example, stainless steel, copper, or a copper alloy is mentioned. Among these, martensite, ferrite, austenitic, or the like can be used as the stainless steel. Moreover, although copper or a copper alloy may be arbitrary arbitrary copper or copper alloy as a base material used for electronic components, such as a connector and a terminal, considering that it is used for the connection terminal of an electrical and electronic device, a high electrical conductivity It is preferable to use the thing (for example, IACS (value when the conductivity of the international Annealed Copper Standard is 100) about 15 to 80%), for example, Cu-Sn-P system ( Phosphor Bronze), Cu-Zn-based (e.g. brass, Dandong), Cu-Ni-Zn-based (e.g. silver), Cu-Ni-Si-based (Corson alloy), Cu-Fe-P-based Alloys; Moreover, there is no restriction | limiting in particular in the shape of a metal base material, Forms, such as a board, a strip, and a press product, may be sufficient.

On the surface of the metal base material to which nickel plating is carried out, a processing altered layer exists in thickness of 0.2 micrometer or more. When the thickness of the processed altered layer is less than 0.2 µm, all or part of the nickel plating structure formed on the surface becomes coarse, and plating of a good appearance is not obtained. The processing altered layer is a fine layer of crystal grains generated on the metal surface by rolling, buffing, or the like. The thickness of the processed altered layer is preferably 0.25 to 3.0 µm, more preferably 0.3 to 2.0 µm.

On the other hand, when manufacturing a gloss nickel plating material, when a plating film is formed in a metal base material using the plating containing a gloss agent, but nickel plating does not become a gloss appearance according to the metal base surface state as mentioned above. There is. This is because nickel plating has a property of being easily affected by the underlying metal crystals. For example, when the crystal grain of a metal base material is coarse, the crystal grain of plating also becomes large and consequently, the unevenness | corrugation of a plating surface becomes large. Thus, the appearance is cloudy. On the other hand, when the crystal grain of a metal base material is fine, a plating structure will also become fine and a plating surface will be smooth. Thus, the plating has a glossy appearance.

(Glossy Nickel Plating Material)

As for the glossy nickel plating material which concerns on this invention, the nickel plating layer is formed in the processed surface of the metal base material mentioned above. The nickel plating layer is comprised from nickel which has the crystal grain size (0.3 micrometer or less) of the magnitude | size corresponding to the crystal grain diameter of the metal of the surface of a metal base material. The nickel plating layer has good gloss because the crystal grain size is fine in this way. Moreover, the crystal grain diameter of nickel which comprises a nickel plating layer becomes like this. Preferably it is 0.01-0.3 micrometer.

The nickel plated layer is composed of nickel, including an extremely small amount of an organic brightener component. This is because the brightener component is contained in the coating in a small amount in the plating step.

Moreover, the electronic components, such as a terminal and a connector which concern on this invention, are comprised using the glossy nickel plating material mentioned above as a material.

(Manufacturing Method of Glossy Nickel Plating Material)

First, a metal substrate formed of stainless steel, copper or a copper alloy is prepared. Next, a processed altered layer is formed on the surface of a metal base material by rolling, skin pass rolling, buff polishing, and brush polishing, for example. The processing conditions, for example, the rolling work degree, the pressure and the time during buff polishing are adjusted so that the thickness of the processed deterioration layer is 0.2 µm or more. Observation of the processed deformed layer is performed by cross-sectional observation with a focused ion beam (FIB) to confirm the success or failure of the processing.

Next, the gloss plating bath is prepared. The gloss plating liquid used for a gloss plating bath contains a water-soluble nickel salt, a pH buffer, and a gloss agent.

Here, as water-soluble nickel salt, nickel sulfate, nickel chloride, etc. are mentioned, for example, 250-350 g / L in total are added.

Examples of the pH buffers include boric acid and citric acid, and 35 to 45 g / L are added thereto.

Examples of the brightening agent include saccharin and 1-4 butyne diol, and these are added in an amount of 0.1 to 2 g / L.

It is preferable to adjust pH 3--5 with an aqueous solution, and, as for a gloss plating liquid, it is more preferable to adjust pH-3.8-4.2.

Moreover, it is preferable to use a gloss plating liquid at bath temperature 40-60 degreeC, and it is more preferable to use at 45-50 degreeC.

When the pH and bath temperature of the gloss plating solution are outside the above ranges, there is a problem such as a slow plating rate or a poor appearance.

Subsequently, the above-mentioned surface-processed metal substrate is immersed in a gloss plating bath for a predetermined time to obtain a gloss nickel plated substrate having a desired gloss. At this time, since the processing altered layer of 1 micrometer or less, preferably 0.01-0.2 micrometer, is formed in the surface of a metal base material, the crystal grain size of the metal of the plating layer formed in the surface becomes correspondingly fine. Therefore, the surface of the formed plating layer becomes smooth, and favorable gloss can be obtained.

Example

Hereinafter, although the Example of this invention is shown, these are provided in order to understand this invention better, and it does not intend that this invention is limited.

(Example 1: Examples 1 to 10)

A brass plate having a thickness of 0.65 mm was prepared as a metal substrate. On the surface of a brass plate, the processing altered layer of the thickness shown in Table 1 was formed by buff polishing. The thickness of this altered layer is observed using FIB.

Moreover, the crystal grain diameter of the metal which comprises the process altered layer of a metal base material was observed by FIB.

Then, the gloss plating bath containing the gloss plating liquid which has the following compositions was prepared.

ㆍ NiSO ₄ ㆍ 6H ₂ O 250g / ℓ

ㆍ NiCl ₂ ㆍ 6H ₂ O 50g / ℓ

ㆍ boric acid 40 saccharin 2 g / l

1,4-butynediol 0.2 g / l

Next, after degreasing and pickling the brass plate which processed the surface, it immersed in the plating bath, and formed the plating layer with the current density of 5 A / dm <^2> . The gloss plating bath was 45 degreeC at pH 4.0.

In FIG. 1, the expanded sectional drawing of the brass base material, a process altered layer, and a nickel plating layer which concerns on Example 3 is shown.

(Example 2: Comparative Examples 1 to 5)

As Comparative Examples 1-5, the same copper foil as the Example was prepared first. Next, the plating bath similar to an Example was prepared, and this process was plated by mild processing, such as brush-grinding, without processing the surface of the brass plate, or lightly brush-polishing. Plating current and bath temperature were also set similarly to the Example.

(evaluation)

The crystal grain diameter of nickel which comprises the nickel plating layer was observed by the cross-sectional image by FIB.

Appearance observation was performed about the gloss of a nickel plating layer. Appearance evaluation was carried out using a glossmeter (reflection densitometer ND-1 manufactured by Nippon Denshi Kogyo Industries Co., Ltd.), when the measured value was greater than 1.8, and when the value was 1.6 to 1.8, △ and × Evaluated as.

The results of Examples 1 and 2 are shown in Table 1.

Claims (9)

Glossy nickel plating material provided with the metal base material whose thickness of the surface-processing altered layer is 0.2 micrometer or more, and the nickel plating layer formed in the surface of this metal base material. The method of claim 1,
Glossy nickel plating material whose thickness of the said processing altered layer is 0.25-3.0 micrometers. The method of claim 2,
Glossy nickel plating material whose thickness of the said processing altered layer is 0.3-2.0 micrometers. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Glossy nickel plating material whose crystal grain diameter of the nickel which comprises the said nickel plating layer is 0.3 micrometer or less. The method of claim 4, wherein
Glossy nickel plating material whose crystal grain diameter of the nickel which comprises the said nickel plating layer is 0.01-0.3 micrometer. 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Glossy nickel plating material in which a metal base is formed from stainless steel, copper, or a copper alloy. The electronic component using the glossy nickel plating material in any one of Claims 1-6. The manufacturing method of the glossy nickel plating material which prepares the metal base material whose thickness of the surface-processing altered layer is 0.2 micrometer or more, and forms a nickel plating layer on the surface. The method of claim 8,
The manufacturing method of the glossy nickel plating material whose crystal grain diameter of the nickel which comprises the said nickel plating layer is 0.01-0.3 micrometer or less.

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