In-depth Technical Articles

Hot and Cold Sealing of Anodizing

When discussing aluminum anodizing, one of the most important, and often underestimated, aspects is the sealing phase of the anodic layer. It is precisely this phase that determines the corrosion resistance, color stability, and treatment durability.

Electroless Nickel and Anodizing: What Affects the Price?

One of the most common questions we receive from those approaching a technical surface treatment for the first time is: “How much does it cost per kilo?” Whether we’re talking about electroless nickel plating or anodizing, the correct answer is: it depends.

Electroless nickel plating thickness for corrosion resistance

One of the main properties of electroless nickel plating is its corrosion resistance. Electroless nickel plating is in fact used on mechanical metal parts (steel, aluminum alloys or copper alloys) when protection from oxidation and corrosion by external agents is required.

What is electroless nickel plating

The main metal alloys used in precision engineering are iron, aluminium and copper alloys, thanks to their mechanical properties, availability, cost-effectiveness and ease of machining.

Hydrogen: protection of metal components

Clean energy has become a top priority for governments and industries around the world, as reducing greenhouse gas emissions is essential to limiting the impact of climate change. In this context, hydrogen is emerging as a promising clean energy source for vehicles and beyond.

Corrosion resistance of electroless nickel plating

Difference between electroless nickel plating and electroplated coatings

Electroplated coatings (such as chrome plating, electrolytic nickel plating, zinc plating, zinc-nickel plating) are deposited by applying direct current to the part, which allows the metal to be deposited on the surface of the part to be coated.

Hardness and wear resistance of hard anodizing

Hard anodizing of aluminum is a process that allows creating a layer of aluminum oxide on the material’s surface with hardness and wear resistance properties superior to those of natural or architectural anodizing.

ASTM B733 Electroless Nickel Overview

ASTM B733 - Standard Specification for Autocatalytic (Electroless) Nickel-Phosphorus Coatings on Metal

ASTM B733 is the international standard for electroless nickel plating, mainly used in the United States of America.

Copper-Aluminum Busbars: Ni-P for Solderability & Durability

The term busbar refers to distribution bars used to transfer or distribute electrical energy, typically at high currents. At first glance they are simple components: a “clean” geometry, a defined cross-section, a conductive material. In practice—especially in e-mobility, inverters, battery packs, and power converters—the busbar becomes a critical element because connection performance depends not only on the volume of metal, but on the quality of the surface at the joint areas.

Hardness conversion HRC, HV and HB for non-austenitic steels

Hardness of electroless nickel plating: heat treatments

Electroless nickel plating is a surface treatment that uniformly coats the part with an alloy of nickel and phosphorus. Changing the composition of the treatment bath produces types of electroless nickel with different percentages of phosphorus and consequently different characteristics.

What is hard anodizing of aluminum?

Anodizing (also known as anodic oxidation) is an electrochemical process that produces a compact oxide layer on the metal surface of the treated part. This process uses electric current and its name comes from the fact that the part to be treated is connected to the anode of an electrolytic cell.

PEO Ceramic Treatments on Magnesium and Aluminum

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, several Russian technologies were investigated by the Western world in the early 90s to assess their industrial applicability. These technologies came from Russian space and military research. Among the surface treatments for metals, electrolytic treatments called Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation PEO, also known as Micro-Arc Oxidation MAO, gained a certain amount of interest, as they made it possible to create an extremely hard and compact oxide layer on aluminum, magnesium and titanium using high-voltage current.

Hard and Clear Anodizing, Characteristics and Differences

Aluminum anodizing , also known as anodic oxidation, is an electrolytic process by which a layer of aluminum oxide is formed on the surface of the workpiece to be treated, giving it excellent surface characteristics.

Electroless nickel plating or chrome plating?

Galvani invented the battery in 1791, which later enabled the development of electroplating: the deposition of metal on conductive surfaces. The first industrial chrome-plating electrolytes were introduced in the second half of the 19th century and refined in the early 20th century. Apart from minor variations in electrolyte formulations, the principal component of chromium-plating baths remains chromium trioxide, CrO3, known as chromic acid in solution. Chromium is present in this electrolyte in its hexavalent form, and its salts are known as chromates.

Anodizing and food contact

Aluminum is a metal widely used for the production of items that come into contact with food. Pots, pans, utensils, trays and foil are made of aluminum. Aluminum objects that come into contact with food are often protected through coating/painting or anodizing.

Electroless nickel plating on aluminum

Electroless nickel plating is commonly applied successfully to all aluminum alloys. Its uniform thickness, corrosion resistance and high hardness are an efficient barrier against corrosive agents and situations where wear plays an important role.

Electroless nickel plating designation according to ISO 4527

ISO 4527, “Autocatalytic (electroless) nickel-phosphorus alloy coatings,” is the international standard for electroless nickel coatings. The standard defines a standardized treatment designation, together with the specifications and main characteristics of the treatment to be applied to the parts.

Food contact materials and electroless nickel plating

Nickel is a naturally occurring metallic element with a silvery white, lustrous appearance. It is the 24th most common element on earth and occurs widely distributed in the rocks of the earth’s crust and core.

Pre-treatment dimensional tolerances calculator

With the online calculator presented below, you can determine the dimensional tolerances of shafts and holes.
This tool takes into consideration the coatings applied to mechanical parts, allowing you to calculate the dimensional tolerances needed in pre-treatment machining, in order to ensure the correct tolerance of the finished part after surface treatment.

Factors influencing the corrosion resistance of electroless nickel

Electroless nickel plating is often applied to mechanical parts for its corrosion resistance properties.

The electroless nickel layer has high chemical resistance and uniform thickness. These characteristics make it possible to create a barrier between the base alloy and the external environment, greatly increasing the corrosion resistance of the part.

Self-lubricating electroless nickel coatings

The electroless nickel plating process allows the creation of composite coatings made of functional particles included in a nickel matrix. Through the process, it is possible to incorporate particles into the electroless nickel layer, provided that specific parameters are respected to allow the co-deposition of the particles themselves.

Dimensional tolerances and plating treatments

Customers often have questions about how coatings affect part size. Some of the most common questions are: what is the change in size caused by the coating, should tolerance-controlled holes be masked, and what happens to threads?