Surface preparation of various metal alloys before plating

摘要

This paper will focus on practical information related to chemical process bath selection to condition several metals and alloys before electroplating. An important fact to be highlighted is the critical contribution of surface preparation to a satisfactory plated finish. This includes cleaning, rinsing, and activation. Metal finishing process cycles predominantly begin with these initial steps. In essence, the first step is the most important step. If the surface preparation portion of the cycle is not correct, the effective application of any plated deposit may result in blisters, hazing, pitting, lack of adhesion, or other related finish failures. This problem hurts the finisher several ways, such as: finished parts may be only marginally acceptable, costly rejects, failure to meet production quota, potential to shut down the line. Therefore it's important to map out an effective strategy and game plan.