Electroless Ni-P Coating of Cenospheres Using Copper Sulfate Activator

Electroless Ni- P-coating of fly-ash cenosphere particles is demonstrated in the present investigation. The Electroless Ni- P-coating process is modified by replacing the conventional sensitization and activation steps with only using activation step with CuSO4 activator. The cenosphere particles are characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) during and after the coating process. Relatively uniform and continuous coating is obtained under the given coating conditions. The possible mechanism of electroless Ni-P-coating of cenosphere particles utilizing CuSO4 activator is suggested. The low density Ni-P coated cenosphere particles may be utilized for manufacturing conducting polymers for EMI-shielding application and microwave absorbing materials.