Ni-P as a New Material for Thick Film Technology

The product of nickel ions reduction in buffered solution by hypophosphite, known as Ni-P, was examined as a potentially useful material for thick film technology. This material, when mixed with glass oxidizes if heated above 450℃ in an air atmosphere. For this reason we investigated the possibility of using an additive to stabilize the Ni-P against oxidation. We found that B 2 O 3 as an additive showed itself to be most satisfactory. A detailed investigation of the phase relations in heated Ni-P, Ni-P-glass and Ni-P-glass-B 2 O 3 compositions was performed. The inks prepared so far from the mixture of Ni-P-glass-B 2 O 3 can only be used in thick film technology for conductor layer production ( R □ ∿ 0.1 Ω ). The most satisfying and practically useful characteristics were obtained for inks produced from solid components containing 45 to 80 wt% Ni-P and about 10 wt% B 2 O 3 .