Electroplating Equipment

Electroplating is an electrolytic process in which the metal sheet providing the plating material functions as the anode, while the object being plated acts as the cathode. The electrolyte is typically a solution containing metal ions of the plating material. When voltage is applied between the anode and cathode, metal ions in the electrolyte migrate toward the cathode and are reduced to form a metallic coating. At the same time, the anode dissolves and replenishes metal ions into the electrolyte.
In certain applications, insoluble anodes are used; in such cases, fresh electrolyte must be added to maintain the required metal-ion concentration for plating.

Typical Standard Process Flow:
“Pre-degreasing (or hot cleaning) → Main degreasing → Rinse (1) → Rinse (2) → Surface conditioning (titanium-based colloid) → Phosphate coating (zinc phosphate) → Rinse (3) → Rinse (4) → Optional pure-water rinse.”
If a phosphoric-iron system is used, the surface-conditioning step is not required.
Degreasing agents are essentially surfactants, consisting mainly of alkaline agents and neutral emulsifiers. Emulsifiers disperse oil but do not remove it; actual oil removal relies on the alkaline components, which break down and separate the contaminants. After the workpiece surface is cleaned, a coating process is applied to prevent rust, enhance adhesion, and improve corrosion resistance.

When attempting to simplify the workflow by combining degreasing and phosphating into a so-called “2-in-1” (or 3-in-1) treatment, the degreasing solution contains no alkaline components and is composed only of neutral emulsifiers and phosphate-based coating agents. Oil removal then depends solely on the acidic components of the phosphating solution. As a result, the chemical solution deteriorates quickly, and—more importantly—the quality of the treated workpieces becomes unstable, which negatively affects the coating performance that follows.