Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Zinc Electroplating

Zinc electroplating is another process to make metal coated by zinc, this process is not made in big scale because more complex compared with other usual process done in industry like Zinc Immersion. For certain process that need special specification may use other kind process beside use zinc immersion. In industrial application this process more simple compare by zinc electroplating because can do in fast way and can apply to big steel depend on the bath available.

Zinc electroplating is a modified of zinc immersion to have zinc coated if that need more smooth on the surface and may need the result have evenly coating thickness. Zinc electroplating relatively low cost, protective nature and attractive appearance. The coating zinc done through this process gives corrosion protection to ferrous components and it can give color like gold, black or olive drab finish by post treatment.

Using zinc electroplating, we can coat nuts, bolts, washers and other kind parts for interior components and gas filters. Zinc electroplating solution use acid chloride, alkaline non cyanide and cyanide, and the most widely used zinc alloys for electroplating are zinc nickel cobalt and zinc iron. Even many metals can be plated by zinc but the common metal are steel or iron, on which the process offers sacrificial protection.

The process of zinc electroplating starting by alkaline detergent cleaning, and then treated with acid to remove rust or surface scales. The cleanliness is very important to prevent adhesion effect. The next process the zinc deposited on the metal by immersing it in chemical bath containing dissolved zinc. When a DC is applied, which result in zinc being deposited on the cathode, as like other kind of electroplating process use.