What Does Electroplating Protect Metal From?

5 questions about basic knowledge of electroplating coating

Question1. What is the function of the electroplating coating?

1. Improve the corrosion resistance of metal parts in the use environment;

2. Decorate the appearance of parts to make them bright and beautiful;

3. Improve the working performance of parts, such as hardness, wear resistance, electrical conductivity, electromagnetic properties, heat resistance and so on.

Question2. What are the requirements for the electroplating coating?

1. There should be good bonding force between the coating and the substrate, including between the coating and the substrate;

2. The coating should have a relatively uniform thickness and fine structure on the main surface of the part;

3. The coating should have a specified thickness and as few pores as possible;

4. The coating should have the specified indicators, such as surface roughness, hardness, color and salt spray test.

Question3. What is cathodic plating coating and anodic plating coating?

Cathodic coating refers to a plating coating in which the potential of the plating coating is positive to that of the base metal under certain conditions, and vice versa for anodic plating coating.

To determine what kind of plating coating the plating coating is, it should be determined by the difference between the potential of the coating coating under the medium conditions and the potential of the base metal.

Question4. Select the required plating type according to the electroplating coating application

1. Protective plating coating: the main function is to protect the base metal from corrosion, and does not specify the decoration requirements for the product, such as galvanizing, cadmium plating, etc.;

2. Protective-decorative plating coating: In addition to protecting the base metal, it also makes the parts beautiful, such as nickel plating, nickel/chrome plating, copper/nickel/chrome plating, etc.;

3. Functional plating coating: In addition to having a certain protective effect, it is mainly used for special work purposes, such as tin plating, silver plating, hard chrome, etc.

Question5. What are the seven electroplating coatings used for?

1. Zinc electroplating coating

The zinc electroplating coating is an anodic plating coating for steel parts under atmospheric conditions. After color passivation, the protective performance of the coating is obviously improved and the appearance is improved. It is mainly used to prevent corrosion of steel parts. Its electroplating coating is cheap, has excellent corrosion resistance, and is widely used.

2. Copper electroplating coating

Copper plating is a cathodic plating coating for metals such as zinc and iron. It is often used on steel or some plastics as the bottom or middle layer of copper/nickel protective-decorative plating coatings. It can also be used in printed circuits, electroforming molds, etc.

3. Nickel electroplating coating

Nickel electroplatin coating is a cathodic coating for iron and steel parts. It has higher hardness, higher corrosion resistance than copper, alkali resistance, and acid resistance. Commonly used for copper/nickel/chrome protective-decorative plating coating of steel parts and pre-plating before acid copper plating.

4. Chrome electroplating coating

Chromium plating is cathodic for steel parts. It has high heat resistance, good hardness at room temperature, good wear resistance and strong light reflection, and is widely used to improve the wear resistance and light reflection of parts, as well as repair size and decoration.

5. Silver electroplating coating

Silver electroplating coating is a cathodic coating for commonly used metals. It has excellent electrical conductivity, soldering properties, and stable chemical properties. It is mainly used for conductive parts and their welding parts in the electrical industry, and also for protective-decorative coatings, such as musical instruments, tableware, optical instruments and crafts.

6. Cadmium electroplating coating

Cadmium electroplating coatings are anodic plating coatings for steel parts in marine and high-temperature atmospheric environments. The coatings are relatively stable, have strong corrosion resistance, and good lubrication performance. They are widely used in aviation and electronics industries.

7. Tin electroplating coating

Tin electroplatin coating is a cathodic plating coating on steel parts. Therefore, mechanical protection of steel parts from corrosion is only possible if the coating is non-porous. It has high chemical stability, has little effect on sulfur and sulfide, has good welding performance, and has a shielding effect on nitriding.