Electroplating Process

Corrosion & Protection of Materials

What is electroplating?

• Electroplating is a process of plating one metal onto another by hydrolysis most commonly for decorative purposes or to prevent corrosion of metal.

What is electroplating?

• There are also specific types of electroplating such as copper plating, silver plating, and chromium plating.

What is electroplating?

• Electroplating allows manufacturers to use inexpensive metals such as steel or zinc for the majority of the product and then apply different metals on the outside to account for appearance, protection, and other properties desired for the product.

History of Electroplating

• By 1839, scientists in Britania and Russia had independently devised metal deposition processes similar to Brugnuatelli's for the copper electroplating of printing press plates.

History of Electroplating

• The plating industry received a big boost with the advent of electric generators in the late 1800s.

• With the higher currents available, metal machine components, hardware, and automotive parts requiring corrosion protection and enhanced wear properties, along with better appearance, could be processed in bulk.

St.Isaac’s Cathedral in St.Petersburg

History of Electroplating

• Plating equipment from manually operated tar-lined wooden tanks to automated equipment, capable of processing thousands of kilograms per hour of parts.

The Purpose of Electroplating

APPEARANCE

PROTECTION

SPECIAL SURFACE PROPERTIES

ENGINEERING OR MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

Uses of Electroplating

–It is widely used in various industries for coating metal objects with a thin layer of a different metal.

–The layer of metal deposited has some desired property which the metal of the object lacks.

Gold plating

Uses of Electroplating

• For example, chromium plating is done on many objects such as car parts, bath taps, kitchen gas burners for the fact that chromium is very corrosion resistant and this prolongs the life of the parts.

Choosing the Electrolytes

–There are many different metals that can be used in plating and so determining the right electrolyte is important for the quality of plating.

–Some electrolytes are acids, bases, metal salts or molten salts.

Choosing the Electrolytes

• When choosing the type of electrolyte some things to keep in mind are corrosion, resistance, brightness, or reflectivity, hardness, mechanical strength, ductility and wear resistance.

Preparing the Surface

–There are three steps to take. Cleaning, treatment and rinsing.

Cleaning

Usually consists of using certain solvents such as alkaline cleaners, water or acid cleaners in order to remove layers of oil on the surface.

Cleaning

–Chemical cleaning consists of using solvents that are either surface-active chemicals or chemicals which react with the metal surface.

–Physical cleaning, mechanical energy is used by being applied in order to remove contaminants. It includes brush abrasion and ultrasonic agitation.

Treatment

–Treatment includes surface modification which is the hardening of the parts and applying metal layers.

Rinsing

–Rinsing leads to the final product and is the final touch to electroplating.

Rinsing

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