Effect of additives on the cathode current efficiency of nickel deposited with pulse current

In recent years pulse plating finds wide applications in the metal finishing industry due to superior properties obtained with the industrially important electrolytes. In this paper a detailed investigation shows that the current efficiency of a Watt's bath for nickel deposition decreases with various pulse conditions compared to the direct current deposition. Additives further reduced cathode current efficiency due to large polarisation The kinetics of electrode reactions are reviewed to ascertain the mechanism that led to the reduction in cathode current efficiency.