Interaction Between Fine Diamond Particles in Electroless Nickel Solutions

The classical DLVO theory was applied to calculate the interaction potential energy between diamond particles in electroless nickel (EN) solution and its diluted solutions with deionized (DI) water to predict their dispersion and sedimentation rates. Sedimentation tests and particle size distribution for all particle dispersions were measured to verify the DLVO calculations. Results show that the curve features of interaction potential energy vary with the dilution ratio of dispersions. The energy barrier in the curves requires the minimum 1:100 dilution of the EN solution. A sufficient energy barrier results in an extremely slow sedimentation rate of particles by keeping them separate. Otherwise, they settle down quickly due to the agglomeration resulting from their attractive forces at any separation distance. The prediction results are in good agreement with the measurement of sedimentation tests and particle size distribution. The classical DLVO theory is applicable to the field of electroless plating.