Advanced Electroless Nickel/PTFE Composite

APTICOTE 450 is a unique, improved self-lubricating Nickel+PTFE composite that gives even lower friction and greater load-carrying capacity than all other nickel/polymer coatings. It is a revolutionary coating for design engineers, combining the dimensional accuracy of electroless nickel with the excellent sliding and low friction properties of microscopic spheres of PTFE.

Why is Apticote 450 the best Nickel/PTFE coating?

• The process chemistry - the most advanced formulation available, unique to Poeton in Europe
• Polymer content - more of it, and more finely dispersed
• Coverage - does not build on corners or fade on flat areas,
  like many electroless nickel/PTFE processes
• Operator skills - experienced and well-trained; that is our advantage
• Jigging - optimised in our dedicated workshops
• Process control - our laboratory analysis and make-up procedures ensure the highest quality

APTICOTE 450 Electroless Nickel+PTFE coatings can be applied in very thin deposits with high dimensional precision on most metallic substrates, including mild steel, stainless steel, cast iron, aluminium and titanium. This allows the designer to choose his substrate and mating parts on the basis of a need for strength, light weight or corrosion resistance. Any problems of galling or wear which might occur with such materials can be completely overcome with APTICOTE 450.

Properties and Benefits

Low Friction

The superior friction properties of APTICOTE 450 Electroless Nickel/PTFE are invaluable in an un-lubricated situation. The uniform dispersion of polymer within the coating produces low friction throughout the component life.

APTICOTE 450 also imparts non-stick properties, with reduced drag or torque during initial running. Additional polymer is available on the coating surface to provide a start-up and assembly aid.

Apticote 450 on Titanium

Thickness and Surface Finish APTICOTE 450 is available in thicknesses from 5 microns to a practical maximum of 20 microns. With thin coatings, the manufactured finish is maintained after plating. However, on thicker coatings above 10 microns there is a slight deterioration of the post-plating finish. Uniformity APTICOTE 450 provides predictable uniform coverage in the range 5 to 20µ, depending on the application. It can be applied to your finished product without the need for post-machining. It can even coat internal surfaces, thread forms and bores.

Substrate Materials

Poeton have solved all the pre-treatment problems, so that APTICOTE 450 Electroless Nickel/PTFE can be applied with confidence to materials like Titanium and Aluminium as well as the more usual range of mild steel and stainless steels.

Often, APTICOTE 450 can bring desirable tribological properties to a light-weight material - a vital property for aerospace and automotive applications.
 

Low Wear and Anti-Galling

In lightly loaded situations, APTICOTE 450 has been known to show no detectable wear for many thousands of operations, such is the efficiency of its self-lubrication. At higher loads, it will exhibit some wear, but it is excellent for threads or connectors, which can always be undone, no matter how tight you fasten them - even with stainless steel threads, galling is a thing of the past.

The lowest friction and the lowest wear rate are obtained when APTICOTE 450 is heat-treated at 300°C, and this step is always recommended for the higher load applications such as screw threads.

Hardness

APTICOTE 450 has a bulk hardness of about 200VPN, although this can be increased after heat treatment of the coating at 300°C for four hours to 300VPN. The matrix in APTICOTE 450 has a hardness of at least 500VPN, increasing to 800VPN after this type of heat treatment.

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