Ni-Co Alloy Electroforming for Micro Mold Fabrication

마이크로 금형 제작을 위한 니켈-코발트 합금 전주기술개발

The factors affecting Ni-Co alloy electroforming were investigated to determine the optimum bath composition and electroplating parameters, like pH, temperature, and current density, suitable for high speed fabrication of a micro mold with longer lifetime. To obtain alloy deposits having uniform thickness and composition, electroplating parameters were finely tuned with home-made electroforming apparatus. Ni-Co alloy deposits had linearly increased Co with $Co^{2+}$ ion concentration in electroplating bath, and showing $412H_v$ of Victors hardness at $23wt\%$ of Co content. For Ni-Co alloy, sulfonate and diol related organic additives were very effective to alleviate its residual stress and surface roughness. The maximum deposition rate was $106{\mu}m/hr$ at 10ASD and the tensile strength of alloy deposit was 2 times larger than that of Ni only case.