Nickel electroplating is a process of depositing nickel onto a metal part. Parts to be plated must be clean and free of dirt, corrosion, and defects before plating can begin. To clean and protect the part during the plating process, a combination of heat treating, cleaning, masking, pickling, and etching may be used. Once the piece has been prepared it is immersed into an electrolyte solution and is used as the cathode. The nickel anode is dissolved into the electrolyte to form nickel ions. The ions travel through the solution and deposit on the cathode.

Anodizing is an electrochemical process that converts the metal surface into a decorative, durable, corrosion-resistant, anodic oxide finish. Aluminum is ideally suited to anodizing, although other nonferrous metals, such as magnesium and titanium,  also can be anodized. Aluminum alloys are anodized to increase corrosion resistance and to allow dyeing (coloring), improved lubrication, or improved adhesion.

Anodizing is accomplished by immersing the aluminum into an acid electrolyte bath and passing an electric current through the medium. A cathode is mounted to the inside of the anodizing tank; the aluminum acts as an anode, so that oxygen ions are released from the electrolyte to combine with the aluminum atoms at the surface of the part being anodized.

Sulfuric acid anodizing (Type II & III)

Sulfuric acid is the most widely used solution to produce anodized coating. Coatings of moderate thickness 1.8 μm to 25 μm (0.00007" to 0.001") are known as Type II as named by MIL-A-8625, while coatings thicker than 25 μm (0.001") are known as Type III, hard coat, hard anodizing, or engineered anodizing. Very thin coatings similar to those produced by chromic anodizing are known as Type IIB. Thick coatings require more process control, and are produced in a refrigerated tank near the freezing point of water with higher voltages than the thinner coatings. Hard anodizing can be made between 13 and 150 μm (0.0005" to 0.006") thick. Anodizing thickness increases wear resistance, corrosion resistance, ability to retain lubricants and PTFE coatings, and electrical and thermal insulation.

Gold is an extremely stable metal that has extremely high corrosion resistance, oxidation resistance, good electric properties and low contact resistance. Gold plating is often used in electronics, to provide a corrosion-resistant electrically conductive layer on copper, typically in electrical connectors and printed circuit boards.

Application: Decoration, Electric and electronics components

Capability:

Base Material: Copper

Standard Compliance: PS 1088

Small scratches can be repaired in this field with the use of scotch brite pads of equivalent grit or roughness. Hairline finish differs in surface roughness, grain structure and production methods. It is smoother, reflective finish, and is used primarily as a decorative product.

Application: Aerospace, Marine, other industrial and consumer applications

Capabilities:

Base Material: Stainless and Aluminum

Standard Compliance: PS1103

Primer is a paint product that allows finishing paint to adhere much better than if it were used alone. For this purpose, primer is designed to adhere to surfaces and to form a binding layer that is better prepared to receive the paint. Because primers do not need to be engineered to form a durable finished surface, they can instead be engineered to have improved filling and binding properties with the material underneath.

Metal primers promote adhesion of paint as well as protects underneath metal from corrosion. Inhibitive pigments are used in the formulation of primers, to prevent eating away of the metal in the process of corrosion.

Priming is mandatory if the material is not water resistant and will be exposed to the elements. Primers can also be used for dirty surfaces which cannot be cleaned, or before painting light colors over existing dark colors.

Primers can usually be tinted to a close match with the color of the finishing paint. If the finishing paint is a deep color, tinting the primer can reduce the number of layers of finishing paint that are necessary for good uniformity across the painted surface. Primers are also used to hide joints and seams to give a finishing look.

Kapco offers priming process for aluminum based material with a maximum size of 1000mm x 1000mm.

Cleanroom is a contamination controlled area. It has a low level of environmental pollutants such as dust, airborne microbes, aerosol, particles and chemical vapors. More accurately, a cleanroom has a controlled level of contamination that is specified by the number of particles per cubic meter at a specified particle size.

Kapco offers process such as washing of materials, 100% visual inspection, 100% sorting inspection, packing and delivery.

Kapco offers Nickel Plating process with PTFE wherein PTFE particles are suspended in the

Electroless Nickel bath creating a uniform co-deposit for abrasion resistance of the material. Its electroless nickel content of PTFE coatings ensures uniform coating thickness, corrosion resistance and durability. This process is offer for aluminum, Stainless and Fe material type with a maximum size of 250mm x 250mm.

Passivation involves creation of an outer layer of shield material that is applied as a micro coating, created by chemical reaction with the base material, or allowed to build from spontaneous oxidation in the air. As a technique, passivation is the use of a light coat of a protective material, such as metal oxide, to create a shell against corrosion. Passivation can occur only in certain conditions, and is used in microelectronics to enhance silicon. The technique of passivation strengthens and preserves the appearance of metallic. In electrochemical treatment of water, passivation reduces the effectiveness of the treatment by increasing the circuit resistance, and active measures are typically used to overcome this effect, the most common being polarity reversal, which results in limited rejection of the fouling layer.

Passivation treatments are sometimes specified, but it is important to consider whether this is strictly necessary or not. Stainless steel cannot be passivated unless the steel surface is clean and free from contamination and scale from welding operations.

Kapco offers Passivation process for Stainless type materials.

STANDARDS USED:

JPS 3403 AB Passivation Treatments for Corrosion Resistant Steel
QQP-35 C Federal Specification Passivation Treatments for Corrosion Resistant Steel
ASTM A967M-13 Chemical Passivation Treatments for Stainless Steel Parts
PS1112 A Passivation of Stainless Steel

The  salt spray (or salt fog) test is  a standardized and popular  corrosion test method, used  to check corrosion resistance of materials and surface coatings. Usually, the materials to be tested are metallic and finished  with a surface coating which is intended to provide a degree of corrosion protection to the underlying metal.

Salt spray testing is an accelerated corrosion test that produces a corrosive attack to coated samples in order to evaluate the suitability of the coating for use as a protective finish. The appearance of corrosion products (rust or other oxides) is evaluated after a pre-determined period of time. Test duration depends on the corrosion resistance of the coating; generally, the more corrosion resistant the coating is, the longer the period of testing before the appearance of corrosion/ rust.

Kapco offers salt spray testing using the following standards/specifications: ASTM B117, B137-95, B244-09 and D4060-14. The apparatus for testing consists of a closed testing cabinet/chamber, where a salt water (NaCl) solution is atomized.