Just like electrophoresis, a basic electroplating process includes pre-plating, electroplating, and post-plating. The quality of the coating is 60% dependent on the pre-plating treatment. So what are the pre-plating processes?

    The basic process of pre-plating treatment can be expressed as: surface leveling → degreasing (degreasing) → rust removal (etching) → activation (weak etching) → electroplating process. From the point of view of its craftsmanship, it is a little complicated, but each craft has its essential function. As far as surface leveling is concerned, the mechanical methods we can use include sandblasting, polishing, brushing, rolling, polishing, etc. Sand blasting adopts the principle of compressed air, and is used for high carbon steel sensitive to hydrogen embrittlement and aluminum and magnesium alloys that are easily corroded by aqueous solutions, as well as large equipment and iron castings. Grinding is the process of grinding the surface of parts at high speed with the help of a grinding wheel with abrasives. Its function is to remove various macro defects, corrosion marks, scratches, etc. Brushing is a brushing wheel made of metal wire, animal hair, and synthetic fiber to cut and scrape the surface of the part under high-speed rotation. Rolling is the process of using chemicals to chemically interact with the parts in the drum, so as to achieve the purpose of removing oil stains, oxide scale and corrosion products on the surface of the parts and reducing the surface roughness of the parts. Polishing is divided into mechanical polishing, chemical polishing and electrochemical polishing.

     In actual production, degreasing is generally required after the surface is leveled. There are two common types of grease: one is animal and vegetable oil; the other is mineral oil. Our degreasing methods are also varied, mainly including organic solvent degreasing, chemical degreasing and electrochemical degreasing. Among them, electrochemical degreasing is the most thorough and clean, because electrochemical degreasing with the continuous accumulation of electrode surface charges, polarization reduces the surface tension of the workpiece, making the oil film into oil droplets; secondly, the gas generated by the electrode reaction has a negative impact on the interface. Has a scouring effect. It is worth noting that cathodic degreasing is cleaner than anodic degreasing. As for the etching process of pre-plating treatment, we define it as a processing method in which metal parts are immersed in acid, acid salt or alkali solution, and chemical or electrochemical methods are used to remove etchants on the surface of parts and make them in an activated state.

    The above is the basic overview of the pre-plating treatment explained by Zhibang Technology. Any type of electroplating must do a good job of pre-plating treatment in order to obtain a good coating and perfect products with excellent quality.