An electroless plating process that enables reduction in production costs and a two-layer plating film obtained by the process including an electroless plating process for forming a nickel plating film and a gold plating film in this order on a surface of a copper material by a electroless plating method. The electroless plating process includes a step of forming a nickel plating film containing boron by a reductive electroless nickel strike plating method, and a step of forming a gold plating film by a reductive electroless gold plating method. The two-layer plating film according to the present disclosure is formed by this process.

The invention relates to metallic substrates surface coated with a coating layer comprising a metal and an additive.

The disclosed process is capable of depositing thin layers of a wide variety of metals onto powders of magnesium, aluminum, and their alloys. A material is provided that comprises particles containing a reactive metal coated with a noble metal that has a less-negative standard reduction potential than the reactive metal. The coating has a thickness from 1 nanometer to 100 microns, for example. A method of forming an immersion deposit on a reactive metal comprises: combining a reactive metal, an ionic liquid, and a noble metal salt; depositing the noble metal on the reactive metal by a surface-displacement reaction, thereby generating the immersion deposit on the reactive metal; and removing the ionic liquid from the immersion deposit. The material may be present in an article or object (e.g., a sintered part) containing from 0.25 wt % to 100 wt % of a coated reactive metal as disclosed herein.

A bonding structure formed on a substrate includes an indium layer and a passivating nickel plating formed on the indium layer. The nickel plating serves to prevent a reaction involving the indium layer.

A heteroepitaxial structure includes a first metal portion having a polycrystalline structure, a second metal portion on the first metal portion, the second metal portion has an island-shaped structure on the first metal portion, the second metal portion is provided corresponding to at least one crystalline grain exposed to a surface of the first metal portion, and the second metal portion and the at least one crystalline grain have a heteroepitaxial interface.

A method for fabricating an electronic component includes the steps of: forming a base material layer of, for example, nickel on a base material of copper, copper alloy, aluminium, or aluminium alloy; applying, as a catalyst, one or more metals selected from the group consisting of gold, palladium, platinum, silver, rhodium, cobalt, tin, copper, iridium, osmium, and ruthenium, on the base material layer; and forming a surface layer by an electroless tin plating bath including trivalent titanium as an reducing agent and pyrophosphate salt as a complexing agent. The surface layer has a thickness of 0.5 μm or more.

A metal foam ball, several millimeters in diameter, is manufactured to have an open-pore structure to absorb fluid (e.g., gas and liquid) such as water or lubricant. As an example, a copper foam ball is manufactured via a freeze casting method using prepared oxide powder slurry where a spherical silica gel mold is used to freeze the slurry, which is subsequently dried at low temperature in vacuum and then sintered at high temperature. For improved oxidation, copper alloy foam ball or copper foam ball coated with tin can also be manufactured through the same method. For improved strength, steel, copper-nickel alloy, or titanium foam ball can also be manufactured through the same method.

Systems and methods for electroless plating a first metal onto a second metal in a molten salt bath including: a bath vessel holding a dry salt mixture including a dry salt medium and a dry salt medium of the first metal, and without the reductant therein, the dry salt mixture configured to be heated to form a molten salt bath; and the second metal is configured to be disposed in the molten salt bath and receive a pure coating of the first metal thereon by electroless plating in the molten salt bath, wherein the second metal is more electronegative than the first metal.

Disclosed herein are methods for electrolessly coating copper onto a chromium metal powder, the method comprising adding a nickel-coated chromium powder to an aqueous electroless copper plating bath comprising a source of copper cations, a copper-cation complexing agent, a copper-cation reducing agent, and a first base, thereby forming a copper-coated chromium metal powder. Also disclosed are copper-coated chromium metal powders prepared by a disclosed method.

Provided is a plating lamination technology for providing a highly adhesive inner layer of a printed circuit board. The plating lamination technology is effective in providing an electroless plated laminate, including a non-etched/low-roughness pretreated laminate or a low-roughness copper foil, and a printed circuit board including the plated laminate.