Chemical plating bonds a thin layer of metal to a workpiece without electricity. It achieves results as good as electroplating and can be used on conductive and non-conductive materials. The process involves immersing the piece in a chemical bath and using a reducing agent to attract metal ions. Chemical plating offers advantages over electroplating, including the ability to plate non-conductive materials.
Chemical plating is a method of bonding a thin, even layer of metal to a workpiece without having to use electricity to form the plate. Many differences differentiate electrolysis from traditional plating methods, but two stand out. First, chemical plating is the first method that achieves results that are at least as good as electroplating methods, which require an electric current to form the plate. Second, since no current is required, the workpiece itself can be made of conductive or non-conductive materials. Therefore, while electroplating is limited to metal parts, workpieces of any type, including rubber, fiberglass, and plastics, can be electroplated using the process without electricity.
Both traditional electroplating and chemical plating involve immersing the piece in a chemical bath. In electroplating, the plating metal – typically chromium, nickel or copper – is present in the bath as dissolved salts or as the anode itself in an electrical circuit. The workpiece is attached to the anode and immersed in the bath, which is heated and stirred. When the current is turned on, the metal ions migrate towards the workpiece, also called the cathode, and bind to it. A notable drawback of electroplating is that the metal does not plate itself in a uniformly thick layer, but tends to concentrate in some points and avoid others, based both on the geometry of the piece and on the positioning of the anodes in the bath.
The process without electricity has several similarities to electroplating. The metal is suspended in the chemical bath, and when a reducing agent is added, the chemical reaction begins, imparting a negative charge to the workpiece and attracting the positively charged metal ions. The metal bonds to the piece, regardless of geometry, resulting in a plate of uniform thickness. Both are used to produce a shiny, hard, glossy surface on the workpiece.
Chemical plating offers several advantages over electroplating for a number of applications, both in the process and in the end result. The chemical wet bath does not require agitation or electricity, instead relying on a chemical reaction for the deposition of the metal onto the workpiece. Electroplating improves the level of corrosion protection because the end product is usually less porous than electroplating, especially on irregularly shaped parts where electroplating may not adequately plate dips or bumps on the surface. One major advantage of electroless is that it can be done on non-conductive materials such as plastics or rubber, which allows manufacturers to build items, such as automotive trim, plumbing work, and toys, out of less expensive materials and then plate them.
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