What is electroplating?

Electroplating is a process in which the workpiece is immersed in a solution containing metal salts to be deposited and negative charges are applied to the workpiece to deposit a metal or alloy layer on the workpiece surface which is closely bound to the workpiece. The main purpose of electroplating is to change the nature or size of the workpiece surface.

For example, the hardness, corrosion resistance, wear resistance and brightness of the workpiece can be improved by electroplating. The worn workpiece can also be repaired by electroplating. According to the properties of electroplating, it can be divided into decorative electroplating, repairing electroplating and functional electroplating. The so-called functional coating refers to the electroplating that meets some special requirements, such as wear-resistant coating, antiwear coating, conductive coating, magnetic conductive coating, high temperature coating, etc. Surface composite materials with excellent properties can also be obtained by electroplating.

For example, hard coatings with good wear resistance can be obtained by co-deposition of titanium dioxide with nickel and carbide with chromium. Solid lubricant graphite and molybdenum disulfide can be co-deposited with coating materials such as nickel and copper to obtain wear-reducing composite coatings or self-lubricating composite coatings. The obtained composite coating has low friction coefficient, self-lubrication and good lubrication performance in a wide temperature range.