Pulse current electroforming of Ni-PTFE nanocomposite mold insert with long-lifetime and anti-adhesive properties

Polymeric micro features tend to deform and break under the demolding force during injection molding process, which becomes a bottleneck problem limiting its precision manufacturing. To reduce the polymer-mold interfacial adhesion, nickel-polytetrafluoroethylene (Ni-PTFE) nanocomposite molds with low surface adhesion and high wear resistance were manufactured via pulse current electroforming. The electrodeposited Ni-PTFE nanocomposite showed a good hydrophobic property and low friction coefficient (between 0.1 and 0.3) than pure nickel (0.78). Compared with direct current, pulse current electrodeposition was beneficial to reduce the crystallite size and internal stress, thus improving the wear resistance and reducing the cracking defects. The hardness of pulse current electrodeposited Ni-PTFE reached 442.3 HV, which was 51.7 % higher than that of pure nickel. Compared to nickel mold, Ni-PTFE nanocomposite mold significantly improved the dimensional accuracy of molded microfluidic chips. This study systematically investigates the Ni-PTFE nanocomposite electroforming process under both direct and pulse currents, which provides a new approach for the manufacturing of high-performance precision injection mold insert.