What is electroplating?
Electroplating is a process of surface processing parts by electrolysis. During electroplating, the parts are cathodes, and the metal ions in the plating solution are deposited on the surface of the parts under the action of direct current to form a uniform and dense metal coating. The necessary conditions for plastic electroplating are an external DC power supply, an electrolytic device consisting of a plating solution, a plated part and an anode.
The purpose of plastic electroplating is to achieve various technical properties such as decorativeness, corrosion resistance and wear resistance by changing the appearance and physical and chemical properties of the surface of the parts. It is also possible to apply a certain functional coating according to specific process requirements, such as welding, electrical energy, magnetic energy, light energy coating, etc., to fully expand the application range of metal materials.
Electroplating has spread to all production and scientific fields of the national economy. In particular, it has become an indispensable part in industries such as machinery manufacturing, national defense, communications, transportation, and light industry. In mechanical production, electroplating is widely used to improve the wear resistance and corrosion resistance of various shafts, sleeves and other parts: it plays an increasingly important role in the sealing and corrosion protection of various high-pressure gaskets and the repair size of various mechanical wear and processing parts.
Electroplating is one of the basic processes in the manufacturing industry. Due to the unique technical and economic advantages of plastic electroplating processing, it is not only difficult to be completely replaced, but also has new breakthroughs in the fields of electronics and steel. After the reform and opening up, the electroplating industry has also entered a period of rapid development. A large number of foreign manufacturers have entered China's Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Bohai Rim and other economically developed and conveniently transported regions, and their basic process providers, electroplating companies, have also poured in. The application hotspots of electroplating processing have shifted from machinery, light industry and other industries to electronics and steel industries, from simple protective decorative coatings to functional coatings, and from relative dispersion to gradual integration. Moreover, the types of electroplating are also increasing, from the earliest gold plating, silver plating, copper plating to later nickel plating, zinc plating, hard chrome plating, and tin plating.