Electroplating Nickel Coatings on Foam Nickel for Sand Control Screens

Nickel foam filtration layers used in sand control screens for petroleum extraction often suffer from insufficient mechanical strength and poor corrosion resistance and wear resistance. In this work, a two-stage electroplating strategy using the same metal was employed to construct hierarchical nickel coatings on nickel foam substrates. The effects of key process parameters, including electroplating time, temperature, and pretreatment, on the microstructure, mechanical properties, electrochemical corrosion behavior, and tribological performance of the coatings were systematically investigated. Electroplating time was found to directly regulate grain size and coating uniformity, while electroplating temperature significantly influenced nickel deposition behavior and electrolyte stability. In addition, UV pretreatment markedly improved the brightness and homogeneity of the deposited layers. Under optimized conditions (UV pretreatment for 10 min, electroplating at 60 °C for 8 min), a dense and uniform nickel coating with a well-ordered crystalline structure was obtained, leading to significantly enhanced hardness, wear resistance, and corrosion resistance. This study presents a practical and highly reliable approach for fabricating high-performance nickel-based coatings on nickel foam filter layers. Anticipated for application in the oil extraction industry, this method is set to enhance the performance of foam metal sand control layers.