In addition to various measures to replace or replace non-ferrous metal plating, directly reducing the amount of non-ferrous metal plating is the most direct and easy-to-use saving mode. Now the consumption of non-ferrous metals in the world is amazing. China’s status as a world processing center has been basically established. A large number of non-ferrous metals, especially precious metals, have flowed to the world through products manufactured by enterprises. If effective and feasible measures are not taken to save non-ferrous metals And precious metals, our country’s consumption in this area will become a heavy burden on enterprises and society.

Feasibility of thinning coating

When it comes to thinning the coating, it can easily be used as an excuse for cutting corners. However, in fact, with the advancement of technology, objectively, some products can use a thinner coating instead of a thicker coating, thereby directly reducing the consumption of non-ferrous metals. The first is that with the advancement of surface film technology, some organic molecular films can greatly improve the surface performance. This surface film technology can even protect the surface of a very thin chemical replacement layer, thereby changing the original process that requires electroplating. Electroless plating process. Such surface films can also be used on many coatings, so that the thickness of many non-ferrous metal coatings can be reduced, including zinc, copper, nickel, tin, silver, etc.

Another case is to use the plating of products with good conditions, and the thickness can be adjusted down. For some products that do not require a thick coating, the thickness of the coating can also be adjusted down. For example, the silver plating of microwave devices at base stations, especially high-frequency microwave devices, can be significantly reduced. In the past, it was required to be 5 to 10 μm. Just use l ~ 5? M. Similar situations exist in some industries. Because some standards have strict regulations on the thickness of the coating, it is recommended that when the corresponding standards are revised, the situation that the coating can be thinned is affirmed, which will bring considerable benefits to the non-ferrous metal saving in the national electroplating industry.

Local plating

Partial plating is the same as the two-color or multi-color plating and graphic plating, which is an existing plating technology. Because it is mainly used in decorative, electronic or repair plating, it does not attract special attention. Now, when the establishment of a conservation-oriented society is proposed, especially to reduce the consumption of precious metals, the use of local plating technology in precious metal plating has become a general trend.

In fact, in electronic plating, especially printed circuit board plating, local plating is a commonly used process. From the plating of the printed circuit pattern to the gold finger plating of the plug-in part, the local plating technology is used. And basically uses the glue film plating technology. Now this technology has been applied in other types of products, for example, local silver plating of high-voltage connectors in high-voltage transmission lines, and local silver plating and gold plating of various brush electrical contacts. Brush plating is also a kind of Typical local plating technology.

If the original intention of the development of local electroplating is basically functional considerations, then there are already obvious considerations for saving precious metals. At the same time, the needs of society will also promote technological progress. For some products that used to be fully plated in the past, by adopting the new structure mode, only partial plating is required, that is, the manufacturing process of partial plating is used in product design. Typical is a mobile phone case, which can be embedded in a variety of appearance options, one of which is a plastic plated case. It is also useful for magnesium alloy shells. Other electronic products, instruments, electronic toys, etc. all have structures that use local plating.