Electroplating

Electroplating is accomplished by passing a current through a solution containing dissolved metal ions and a metal object to be plated. Metallic bodies are used as cathodes of electrochemical cells to attract metal ions from solution. Iron and non-ferrous objects are plated with precious metals such as aluminum, brass, bronze, cadmium, copper, chromium, iron, lead, nickel, tin, zinc, etc., as well as gold, platinum and silver. Control the process by controlling various parameters such as voltage and current strength, temperature, residence time, bath purity, etc.

Depending on the metal, you can not meet all these requirements with aqueous electrolyte. Elements such as Ti and Al can be deposited only from organic electrolytes, but other metals such as Mg, Nb, Ta, and W can only be plated from molten salt electrolytes (above 700 ° C).

Metal can be made from aqueous solution (red background). Parts with a yellow background can only be used in combination with other parts (alloy plating). Gray text indicates that the element can be deposited by autocatalytic electroless process or electroplating. (Reference 81)

Operation sequence of operation of the plating unit generally requires various cleaning steps of plating the old paint or plating peeling step and rinsing them respectively during and after these operations. Electroless plating also uses a similar procedure, but involves depositing metal on the substrate without using external electrical energy.

You may already know that plating is a common metal surface treatment / refinement process that can be used in many industrial applications. But you may not be used to how plating works. Plating is not new - the earliest incarnation of modern electroplating was actually in the early 19th century. Along with the development of industry and manufacturing industry in the past two centuries, the electroplating process has also evolved. This is a brief explanation of the mechanism of plating. Let's assume that a layer of gold is electrodeposited on metal jewelry and improves the appearance of the part. The plated metal or coating (gold) is connected to the anode (positively charged electrode) of the circuit and the piece of jewelry is placed on the cathode (negatively charged electrode). Both are immersed in specially developed electrolyte (bath)

Along with the development of electrochemical science, people gradually understood the relationship with electroplating and developed other kinds of non-decorative metal plating. Commercial plating of nickel, brass, tin and zinc was developed in the 1950's. Electroplating tanks and equipment based on the Elkingtons patent are enlarged to accommodate the plating of many large objects as well as specific manufacturing and engineering applications. Due to the development of generators in the latter half of the 19th century, the electroplating industry was greatly encouraged. Because higher currents are available, metalworking machine parts, hardware and automotive parts require corrosion protection and enhanced wear performance, as well as a better appearance that can be processed in batches.