How to increase the mechanical properties of the electroplated nickel coatings?

Try to proceed with electroless plating method. This method has the advantage to offer good adherence even on non-conducting substrate. Below, I suggest a bath formulation for electroless nickel plating:

Nickel sulfate: 80 g/L

Sodium hypophosphite: 24 g/L

Sodium acetate: 12 g/L

Boric acid: 8 g/L

Ammonium chloride: 6 g/L

It is known that the microstructure and mechanical

properties of a plated thin film depend upon the plating

conditions such as temperature, concentration and current

density. Surprisingly, little effort has been made to

clarify the relationship between processing conditions and

mechanical properties of plated thin metal films, particularly

of plated Ni.