Since plastics do not have electrical conductivity like metals, they must first be made conductive in order to be plated. The following steps are taken for this purpose:
Pre-Etching:
The pre-etching bath is used to break the butadiene bonds present in ABS. It contains chromic acid and sulfuric acid, and operates at 62-68 °C.
Activation:
Activation is a solution used to place Sn+2 and Pd2+ ions into the butadiene bonds broken during etching. It forms a tin and palladium film layer on the etched surface.
Electroless Nickel Plating:
This is used to perform nickel plating without using an electric current. The plating is achieved through the chemical reduction of nickel ions by an autocatalytic effect.
The corrosion and wear resistances are very high, and a uniform coating thickness in microns is obtained at every point, regardless of the part shape. Our company uses two types of electroless nickel solutions:
- Hot Electroless Nickel (sulfate-based) ~ 55-60 °C
- Cold Electroless Nickel (chloride-based) ~ 30-40 °C
The plating speed is 12 M/hour.