Advances in Electroless Nickel-Boron Coatings: Improvements to Lubricity and Wear Resistance on Surfaces of Automotive Components

New electroless nickel (EN) surface engineering and tribological coating solutions have been providing automotive, industrial, and military engineers more options for base alloy, lubrication selections, and improved performance properties.

Recent advancements have been made in electroless nickel (Ni) coatings through the introduction of boron (B) to yield hard materials with inherently high lubricity and significantly better wear resistance. Unlike previous generation of Ni-B coatings that contained low levels of B these new Ni-B coatings contain 5-6wt% B with the balance being Ni. The higher level of B in the coating is responsible for the major improvement in properties. In addition, the plating process for these new coatings is environmentally-friendly and safe to work with providing a viable option for the replacement of hard chrome coatings and the dangers associated with hexavalent chrome.