| HS Code | 974173 |
| Product Name | Nickel Plating Solution (MacDermid Nickel Max 200) Electronic/EL Grade |
| Product Type | High-purity sulfamate nickel electroplating solution |
| Appearance | Clear green liquid |
| Nickel Metal Concentration | 100 g/L (13.3 oz/gal) |
| Ph | 4.0 at 25°C (3.5–4.5 adjustable) |
| Specific Gravity | 1.40 at 25°C |
| Operating Temperature | 50–60°C (122–140°F) |
| Cathode Current Density | 2–15 A/dm² (20–150 A/ft²) |
| Anode Type | Electrolytic nickel or sulfur-depolarized nickel |
| Plating Rate | 0.5–2.5 µm/min depending on current density |
| Internal Stress | Low tensile with controllable compressive range |
| Electrical Resistivity | Approximately 8 × 10⁻⁸ ohm·m as plated |
| Purity Grade | Electronic/EL grade with low metallic and organic impurities |
| Solderability | Excellent with proper preparation |
As an accredited Nickel Plating Solution (MacDermid Nickel Max 200) Electronic/EL Grade factory, we enforce strict quality protocols—every batch undergoes rigorous testing to ensure consistent efficacy and safety standards.
| Packing | Supplied in sturdy, sealed 5-gallon pails or 55-gallon drums, with clear hazard labeling for safe handling and storage. |
| Container Loading (20′ FCL) | 20′ FCL: palletized drums/IBCs of Nickel Plating Solution, secured, segregated, with spill containment and hazard-compliant labeling. |
| Shipping | Shipment of MacDermid Nickel Max 200 (Electronic/EL Grade) requires hazardous materials compliance. Supplied in sealed containers, packaged per UN regulations, with proper labeling and documentation. Ground transport only, no air. Must avoid extreme temperatures, moisture, and incompatible materials. Professional handling ensures safe delivery. |
| Storage | Store in tightly sealed original containers in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area, away from direct sunlight and incompatible chemicals. Keep container upright to prevent leaks. Avoid contact with acids, alkalies, and oxidizing agents. Maintain temperatures between 60–80°F (15–27°C). Do not freeze. Ensure secondary containment to manage spills and keep area clean. |
| Shelf Life | Shelf life is typically 6 months from manufacture when stored sealed, protected from freezing, and kept at recommended temperatures. |
During reel-to-reel selective electrolytic nickel deposition for PCB edge connector tabs, the sulfamate chemistry is operated at 55–60 °C, pH 3.8–4.2, and cathode current density 10–30 A/dm² in flooded cell designs; the make-up contains 60–70 g/L nickel from Nickel Max 200 EL-grade concentrate, 30–40 g/L boric acid, and 0.1–0.3 vol% carrier additive, with replenishment controlled at 1.0–1.3 L/1000 Ah for soluble sulfur-depolarized nickel anodes. Compliance records refer to IPC-6012E for rigid board edge contact finish, ASTM B689-97(2019) for electrodeposited engineering nickel thickness, and ASTM B571-18 for bend and tape adhesion tests; the deposited nickel layer of 2.5–5.0 µm must withstand 0.75–1.25 µm gold overplate without solder joint embrittlement at the press-fit interface. The downstream process starts with copper plating to 25–50 µm in the through-hole, dry film solder mask cure, mechanical scrubbing, electrolytic degreasing, microetch at 1.0–1.5 µm copper removal, then nickel sulfamate high-speed deposition in a reel-to-reel cell, followed by gold flash at 0.75–1.25 µm on the contact area; terminal products are memory module edge fingers, PCIe add-in card edge connectors, and backplane press-fit contacts.
On 200 mm and 300 mm patterned wafers, the nickel under bump metallurgy layer is electrodeposited through photoresist openings of 50–150 µm diameter, where current crowding at the resist edge and hydrogen evolution at the cathode reduce local current efficiency below 95% when the average current density exceeds 8 A/dm². The working bath for this application is compounded to 60–70 g/L nickel from the Nickel Max 200 EL-grade concentrate, 30–40 g/L boric acid, 0.1–0.3 vol% wetting agent, and a chloride concentration deliberately held below 5 mg/L to suppress tensile deposit stress; the solution is operated at 50–55 °C, pH 3.5–4.0, and circulated through 0.1 µm cartridge filtration at 10–15 turnovers per hour. Compliance documentation references ASTM B689-97(2019) for coating thickness and defect limits, JEDEC JESD22-B102E for solderability after bump reflow, JEDEC JESD22-B106D for resistance to soldering temperature, IPC-7095D for design and assembly of ball grid arrays, and SEMI S2 for equipment safety interlock verification. The upstream wafer process begins with sputtered Ti/Cu seed layers, followed by positive-tone photoresist application, exposure, development, and oxygen plasma descum; nickel is then plated to 3–8 µm in a cup-type or paddle-type plating cell with independently controlled segmented anodes, after which tin-silver solder is selectively plated and the resist stripped in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone-based strippers before seed etch. The terminal parts are flip-chip solder bumps, copper pillar under bump metallization, and wafer-level chip-scale package redistribution structures.
Reel-to-reel leadframe strip plating lines use high-speed selective cells with confined electrolyte flow to deposit sulfamate nickel at local current densities of 30–80 A/dm² on exposed silver spot regions, where the process window is constrained by anode-gas shielding and strip wander; a strip misalignment above 0.1 mm shifts the plated area beyond the target pad, generating thickness deviations of ±30% across the spot. The bath composition is maintained at 60–70 g/L nickel, 30–40 g/L boric acid, 0.1–0.3 vol% carrier additive, and pH 3.6–4.0 at 50–60 °C, with replenisher additions controlled at 1.0–1.3 L/1000 Ah and impurity limits for copper and iron held below 10 mg/L, zinc below 5 mg/L, and lead below 1 mg/L to preserve EL-grade solderability. Compliance testing refers to ASTM B689-97(2019) for engineering nickel thickness, JEDEC JESD22-B102E for solderability after steam aging, IEC 60068-2-58 for resistance to solder bath dissolution, and RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU for final lead-free silver spot finish. The downstream sequence starts with stamped and deflashed copper alloy leadframes, electrolytic cleaning, acid activation, selective jet plating of Nickel Max 200 to 0.5–2.5 µm on the spot areas, rinsing, silver spot plating, anti-tarnish dip, hot air drying, and final trim and form; the nickel layer acts as a diffusion barrier against copper migration and prevents silver reflow dewetting. Terminal products include TO-220 and TO-247 power device leadframes, QFN exposed pad leadframes, and SOIC narrow-body leadframes.
When chip resistor and MLCC terminations are barrel plated after copper sintering, the nickel barrier layer is applied from a low-stress sulfamate bath composed of 60–70 g/L nickel, 30–40 g/L boric acid, and 0.1–0.3 vol% wetting agent at 50–55 °C, pH 3.8–4.2, and cathode current density limited to 0.5–2.0 A/dm² to avoid dog-bone edge growth on small ceramic bodies; compliance for these passive components is documented under AEC-Q200 Rev D stress test qualification, MIL-PRF-55681C for chip capacitors, IEC 60068-2-58 for solderability and solder bath dissolution resistance, and ASTM B689-97(2019) for nickel coating thickness; the downstream barrel line proceeds from copper-sintered termination bands through electrolytic cleaning, sulfamate nickel deposition to 2–5 µm, tin or tin-lead flash plating to 3–8 µm, and reflow; terminal products are 0402 and 0603 MLCCs and thick film chip resistors.
The electroforming bath for MEMS structural nickel requires a residual deposit stress below 50 MPa in either tensile or compressive mode as measured by a spiral contractometer in accordance with ASTM B975-15, because stress-driven curvature in released features above 20 µm thickness can exceed the dimensional tolerance of ±0.5 µm after sacrificial layer removal. The chemistry is maintained at 60–70 g/L nickel, 30–40 g/L boric acid, 0.1–0.3 vol% carrier additive, and chloride below 5 mg/L, with pH 3.8–4.0, temperature 50–55 °C, and cathode current density restricted to 2–5 A/dm²; when current density exceeds 5 A/dm² or pH falls below 3.8, deposit stress shifts tensile and edge cracking initiates, while pH above 4.2 produces nickel hydroxide co-precipitation and increases surface roughness. Compliance controls cite ASTM E112-13 for grain size uniformity, ASTM B487 for cross-sectional thickness measurement, SEMI S2 for equipment safety, and SEMI S8 for chemical handling; grain size is maintained at 0.5–2.0 µm with a columnar-to-laminar transition observable when the additive concentration drops below 0.05 vol%. The downstream process involves seed layer deposition of Cr/Au or Ti/Cu on silicon or glass wafers, UV or X-ray lithography to form high-aspect-ratio molds, oxygen plasma descum, electroplating to final thicknesses of 20–200 µm, surface planarization, and final sacrificial etching in buffered hydrofluoric acid or concentrated sodium hydroxide, depending on the seed and substrate stack. Terminal products include accelerometer proof masses, micro-gears for optical shutter mechanisms, micro-relay cantilever springs, and inkjet nozzle plates.
RF connector contacts fabricated from brass or phosphor bronze require a pore-free sulfamate nickel underlayer of 2–5 µm before hard gold or silver plating, because a discontinuous nickel layer permits copper diffusion into the gold surface and degrades passive intermodulation performance in 5G base station interconnects. The plating bath is formulated at 60–70 g/L nickel, 30–40 g/L boric acid, 0.1–0.3 vol% wetting agent, pH 3.8–4.2, and temperature 55–60 °C; barrel or vibratory plating lines operate at 2–15 A/dm², while high-speed continuous strip lines for stamped contact bands may use current densities up to 20 A/dm², though published data for the exact strip cell geometry is limited. Compliance testing cites MIL-DTL-45204D for electrodeposited nickel thickness and adhesion, ASTM B689-97(2019) for engineering nickel coatings, EIA-364-26B for connector solderability, IEC 60512-2-1 for contact resistance, and RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU for final finish composition. The downstream process begins with stamped and deburred contact blanks, alkaline degreasing, acid activation, copper strike at 0.5–1.0 µm, nickel sulfamate deposition, hard gold at 0.75–1.5 µm or silver at 2–5 µm, and organically stabilized passivation; terminal products include SMA, SMB, N-type, and F-type coaxial connectors for RF modules, antenna boards, and test instrumentation.
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MacDermid Nickel Max 200 Electronic/EL Grade is a sulfamate-based electrolytic nickel plating solution formulated for high-purity nickel deposition on semiconductor leadframes, connector strip, and under-bump metallizations. The Electronic/EL designation identifies a controlled trace-metal envelope and an additive package intended for soldering and wire-bonding reliability rather than decorative leveling. Product qualification is typically supported by ASTM B689-19 for electroplated nickel on metals and ASTM B568-98(2021) for X-ray fluorescence thickness verification. Exact additive concentrations are proprietary; bath maintenance relies on ampere-hour metering because nickel consumption tracks cathodic current efficiency at 95–100%. Published data for the exact brightener and wetter package of this specific configuration is limited; the operating ranges below are class-typical for electronic-grade sulfamate electrolytes and should be verified against the manufacturer’s technical data sheet.
Internal stress in a sulfamate nickel deposit is governed more directly by chloride, organic contamination, and pH deviation than by nickel metal concentration alone. Nickel Max 200 EL Grade is operated at a nickel metal concentration of 60–75 g/L; sulfamate chemistry permits this higher solubility without the tensile-stress penalty associated with high-sulfate Watts baths. Boric acid is maintained at 35–45 g/L as a pH buffer at the cathode diffusion layer. pH is held between 3.8 and 4.2. Values below 3.5 increase hydrogen co-deposition and can embrittle the deposit; values above 4.5 precipitate nickel hydroxide and produce nodular films. Cathodic current density is normally set between 5 A/dm² and 30 A/dm² for continuous strip and rack operations. At 100% current efficiency, 1 A/dm² deposits approximately 0.20 µm/min of nickel. Solution temperature is controlled at 50–60 °C. Continuous filtration through 1 µm polypropylene cartridges removes particulate from anode bags and air agitation. Table 1 summarizes the class-typical control envelope.
| Parameter | Typical electronic-grade sulfamate control range | Monitoring method |
|---|---|---|
| Nickel metal | 60–75 g/L | ICP-OES or complexometric titration |
| Boric acid | 35–45 g/L | Titration after pH adjustment |
| pH | 3.8–4.2 | Calibrated pH meter |
| Temperature | 50–60 °C | In-tank RTD |
| Cathodic current density | 5–30 A/dm² | Rectifier ammeter |
| Filtration | 1 µm polypropylene | Differential pressure |
| Additive replenishment | ±5% of ampere-hour set point | Volumetric metering pump |
Trace-metal thresholds are tighter than those applied to decorative bright nickel. Copper above 10 mg/L darkens low-current-density areas; iron above 20 mg/L shifts stress tensile; zinc above 5 mg/L lowers deposit ductility; lead above 2 mg/L can impair solder wetting after thermal aging. These limits are monitored by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry on high-volume reel-to-reel lines. Dummy electrolysis at 0.2 A/dm² removes copper, lead, and zinc without excessively stripping nickel. Iron is controlled by filtration of anode sludge and by excluding ferrous tooling below bath level. The electrolyte is incompatible with chromium, cadmium, and lead additions; accidental metallic contamination of that type typically requires partial bath discard rather than corrective chemical addition.
In reel-to-reel leadframe plating lines using insoluble platinized titanium anodes, pH drift is corrected with nickel carbonate slurry rather than ammonia because ammonium ions raise deposit stress. Acid drag-in from acid copper or solder strip cells is limited to less than 0.5% v/v per shift to avoid pH collapse. Nickel thickness on QFP and QFN leadframes is typically specified at 1.0–2.5 µm beneath a gold cap of 0.02–0.10 µm, with thickness verified by XRF per ASTM B568-98(2021). For under-bump metallization, the electrolytic nickel layer is deposited over copper seed and beneath a solder cap. The absence of phosphorus removes the need for aggressive pre-solder activation commonly required for mid-phosphorus electroless nickel. Solder ball shear after reflow is evaluated per JESD22-B117; published data for this specific configuration is limited and must be generated for each pad diameter and solder alloy.
The principal difference between Nickel Max 200 EL Grade and a conventional Watts nickel bath is the anion system and additive purity. Watts baths use nickel sulfate and a chloride fraction for anode dissolution; brightener packages based on saccharin co-deposit sulfur at 0.02–0.06 wt%. That sulfur reduces tensile stress but can alter solder-joint ageing and reduce wire-bond pull strength. Electronic-grade sulfamate systems such as Nickel Max 200 control sulfur co-deposition to below 0.005 wt% where low-sulfur deposits are required for thermosonic wire-bonding applications. The deposit is close to pure nickel with resistivity of 7–9 µΩ·cm. Electroless nickel-phosphorus co-deposits 6–12 wt% phosphorus, has resistivity of 50–110 µΩ·cm, and provides high throwing power on complex shapes without external current. However, aged electroless Ni-P surfaces can retard solder wetting and require acid activation; the electrolytic Nickel Max 200 EL Grade deposit can be soldered after normal cleaning and flux.
| Property | Nickel Max 200 EL Grade deposit | Watts bright nickel | Electroless Ni-P mid-phosphorus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickel content | >99.9 wt% | 99.0–99.7 wt% | 88–92 wt% Ni, 7–9 wt% P |
| Alloying element | None | Sulfur 0.02–0.06 wt% | Phosphorus 6–12 wt% |
| Resistivity | 7–9 µΩ·cm | 7–10 µΩ·cm | 50–110 µΩ·cm |
| Elongation | 15–25% for low-stress sulfamate | 8–12% typical brightened | 1–2% |
| Throwing power | Current-distribution dependent | Current-distribution dependent | High on complex shapes |
| Solder preparation | Clean then flux | Clean then flux | Often requires acid activation |
Where solder-joint reliability after multiple reflows is the release gate, wetting balance after steam aging is performed per IPC J-STD-002D. The steam-aging condition of 8 h at 93 °C and 100% RH discriminates surface passivation. The low-sulfur electrolytic nickel underlayer in Nickel Max 200 EL Grade does not contain phosphorus, so flux activity rather than bulk phosphorus content governs wetting. Cross-section inspection of the nickel-solder intermetallic layer after shear testing per JESD22-B117 distinguishes ductile solder shear from brittle interfacial failure. Wire-bonding qualification of nickel-under-gold pad stacks is performed by wire pull after ball bond per MIL-STD-883 Method 2011. A phosphorus-free electrolytic nickel layer avoids the hard amorphous interface of Ni-P; however, if the nickel deposit is overhardened by decomposition products from oxidized organics, wire pull failures may shift from ball lift to pad cratering.
Sulfamate hydrolysis is the hard upper boundary. At solution temperatures above 70 °C, sulfamate hydrolyzes to sulfate and ammonium; the sulfate fraction lowers current efficiency and the ammonium fraction raises tensile stress. At temperatures below 45 °C, boric acid solubility and additive activity decline, producing pitting and poor throw. pH excursions below 3.5 in high-speed strip cells increase hydrogen incorporation; a subsequent bake at 200 °C may amplify embrittlement rather than relieve it. Organic contamination from tape adhesives and resist residues is removed by batch carbon treatment at 0.5–1.0 g/L activated carbon, but carbon also removes wetter and leveler components. A hull cell panel and tensile-stress check should follow any carbon treatment. Iron, copper, zinc, and lead are controlled by dummy electrolysis or selective ion exchange. Sulfamate electrolytes are incompatible with chromium, lead, and cadmium; anodes are sulfur-depolarized nickel in titanium baskets with polypropylene anode bags. For Alloy 42 iron-nickel leadframes, post-plating hydrogen embrittlement relief is specified by ASTM B850-98(2019); the nickel deposit does not eliminate the requirement for a bake on high-strength ferrous substrates. RoHS conformity is documented by absence of restricted substances above the maximum concentration values in RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU Annex II; REACH obligations under Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 are product-specific and require safety data sheet review.
On continuous reel-to-reel lines processing copper alloy strip at 3–6 m/min, nickel thickness is controlled by line speed and cell count rather than by increasing current density beyond the designed rectifier capacity. Operation above 30 A/dm² at low solution velocity can produce edge burning and nodulation. Heat exchange is carried out with fluoropolymer or passivated stainless steel equipment; polypropylene and PVDF are used for tank linings and piping. Bath records include ampere-hour total, pH, nickel metal, boric acid, and filtration pressure drop at least once per shift. The Electronic/EL Grade distinction is most evident in trace-metal rejection: copper and iron must remain below thresholds that preserve a low-defect nickel interface for gold and solder, whereas decorative bright-nickel limits are broader because appearance rather than solderability is the acceptance criterion.
