Process and How Electroplating Works

It basically explains what electroplating is and what its function is in the process of electroplating. A section from this website gives detail parts of how electroplating works: “Electroplating is the deposition of a metallic coating onto an object by putting a negative charge onto the object and immersing it into a solution, which contains a salt of the metal to be deposited. The metallic ions of the salt carry a positive charge and are attracted to the part with a negative charge.

When they reach it, the negatively charged part provides the electrons to reduce the positively charged ions to metallic form”

This research explains how electroplating works on a small scale and how it does its job of coating the component with a layer of metal. Below is the description of how electrolysis works. This process is identical to the electroplating but the electrolysis process is in a small scale, as shown below in the diagram The information below gives a brief description of electroplating nickel from start to finish.

“Imagine that we have an object that is made of copper or steel, and that it has been properly cleaned, and that we now want to plate it with nickel. A wire is attached to the object, and the other end of the wire is attached to the negative pole of a battery (the wire is blue in this picture). To the positive pole of the battery we connect the red wire; the other end of the red wire we connect to a rod made of nickel.

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Now we fill the cell with a solution of a salt of the metal to be plated. It is theoretically possible to use a molten salt, and in rare cases that are done, but most of the time the salt is simply dissolved in water. The NiCl2 ionises in water to Ni++ and two parts of Cl-, because the object to be plated is negatively charged, it attracts the positively charged Ni++. The Ni++ reaches the object, and electrons flow from the object to the Ni++. For each atom of Ni++, 2 electrons are required to neutralize it or ‘reduce’ it to metallic form”.

This information explains how nickel is plated onto a raw component. It describes how the raw component that is being electroplated is attached to the cathode (negative part) in the circuit. The anode is just the positive part in the circuit and is not attached to anything apart from the solution After the attachment of the component there is a salt of nickel chloride NiCl2 in the solution. This will dissolve to form ions, Ni++ and Cl-. The nickel ions will be attracted to the cathode, which has the raw component e.q. steel, thus coating the metal on the cathode part with nickel. The chloride ions will then be attracted to the positive part, anode and therefore the process is complete.

The reason that nickel is attracted to the raw component is because the cathode, containing the raw component has a negative charge and the nickel has a positive charge and therefore opposite attract. Section 3, analysis of information and conclusions Research piece 2, secondary information This research describes how electroplating works and what types of electroplates are available.

“Electroplating is the electrochemical process of depositing a metallic coating on the base material of an object when it is immersed in a plating solution in such a manner that a suitable low voltage electric current flows through it, causing the metallic coating to be attracted to the object to be plated. Electroplated finishes, including: Chrome plating, Copper plating, Nickel plating, Sliver plating, Zinc plating brass plating, cadmium plating, chromium plating, hard chromium plating, gold plating, tin plating and zinc plating”.

The description of electroplating is the same as the research in research 1, but this research has the types of coating available. Research piece 3, secondary information This research was obtained from a website that gave relevant information on what a metal finish and what electroplating is. WHAT IS METAL FINISHING? “Metal finishing is the process of changing the surface of an object; for the purpose of improving it’s appearance and/or durability”.

A metal finish is the altering or changing of the surface by a process, to improve the appearance and the resistance of the metal. ELECTROPLATING “Electroplating is an electrochemical process used to deposit a metallic coating on the base material of an object by immersing it in an electrically charged solution so that a suitable low voltage electric current flows through it, causing the metallic coating to be attracted to the object being plated”.

Electroplating is a process to coat a raw component with a layer of metal to protect it from corrosion and other factors. It also helps to improve the appearance and function of the raw component. Question 1, Primary information This information was obtained from an interview, which took place at the electroplating company by the manger or head employee. This information gives the relevance of electroplating and how it does it function. The information describes the technique used to coat the raw component with the metal.

“The process of electroplating is similar to that of electrolysis. The electroplating process involves raw components being coated with a layer of metal so that it can give it a protective and decorative finish depending on what raw material is being used. For example electroplating a steel component with chrome to give it a decorative finish rather than protective finish.” From this research the raw component used to electroplate is usually steel. What this shows is that steel need to be protected from factors such as corrosion by being electroplated, so this means that electroplating steel will be beneficial because it protects it from factors.

Section 3, analysis of information and conclusions Research piece 4, primary information This is a photograph of the electroplated produced. It has been electroplated with zinc. The raw component used was steel. The reason this material has been electroplated with zinc is because it is highly resistant to corrosion and protects it from damage.

The effectiveness of the coating of this raw component is to protect it from corrosion. It does this by forming a layer of metal, which is highly resistance that does not let the inner metal be exposed to factors. The quality control that is kept to insure this product has no faults is a member of staff that checks the items once they have been electroplated. If there is a fault in the electroplated product it will have to go thought the whole process of electroplating from start to finish again so that all faults are whipped out.

The quality assurance of the electroplated products to the user is that it will be made to high standards to insure that quality control has been kept throughout the whole of its process and there have been no faults. The input of this process is the raw materials, raw component the solutions etc. The process of the electroplated product is being electroplated under conditions that are quality controlled and the output is the quality assured product.

Research piece 5, primary information This is another photograph of an electroplated pr duct that has been electroplated with black zinc on a steel component. The effectiveness of this is to keep it protected from major facts such as rust, corrosion. This is because it may be used for purposes that may have factors that can damage the inner metal so thus it is coated in a better metal.

The quality control over this product is to keep it fault free. It does this by checking each electroplated product to insure it is not damages in anyway. Once it has been approved that it is fault free it is quality assured and the products then sold or given back to the company that asked for it to be electroplated. The input is the raw material, raw component, and solutions of zinc. The process is to coat the raw component with a layer of metal to protect it from major factors like corrosion. The output is the electroplated product with no faults.