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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
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for Metal Finishing since 1989
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How do you synthesize nickel sulfamate?
Q. I am interested in trying nickel sulfamate electroplating and am having problems finding a reasonably-priced source for it. On a whim I tried DI water with sulfamic acid, a bag of nickel rounds on the anode, and a copper cathode, at 5 volts. This forms large quantities of green crystals on the cathode in a fairly short amount of time as well as turning the water dark green. My question is: what is it? I later read that nickel sulfamate was made by reacting nickel carbonate with sulfamic acid, but not having nickel carbonate at this point I thought I would at least ask to see what the substance generated is.
Thanks-
Larry Battraw
Electronics designer, metals hobbyist - Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
September 14, 2010
A. You made soluble nickel sulfamate and probably nickel hydroxide crystals at the cathode.
Lyle Kirmanconsultant - Cleveland Heights, Ohio
September 15, 2010
A. Larry, Lyle is probably right; you will have formed a nickel hydroxide that has dissolved in the acid to form nickel sulphamate. If you want to use nickel sulphamate systems, the best way is to buy the solution as a concentrate. If you insist on making your own, start with basic nickel carbonate and slowly add sulfamic acid ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] solution to it. However, it is a messy process and nickel carbonate is a harmful substance. I would strongly advise against using nickel oxides or suboxides as they can be very nasty
Trevor Crichton
R&D practical scientist
Chesham, Bucks, UK
September 20, 2010
adv.
"The Sulfamate Nickel How-To Guide"
by David Crotty, PhD
& Robert Probert
published Oct. 2018
$89 plus shipping
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