Abstract: Under acidic conditions，the nano-nickel colloid was prepared by reduced nickel sulfate with sodium hypophosphite in liquid phase with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as stabilizer. Then the nano-nickel colloid was used in the activation process of the fabric electroless plating copper. The phase structure, morphology and distribution were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD)，scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The test results showed that the nano-nickel colloid has pure composition and uniform particle size distribution，the it is effective for the activation of the fabric electroless plating copper used formaldehyde as a reducing agent.

Key words: electroless plating, fabric, nanao-nickel colloid, sodium hypophosphite