Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Electroplating over thermally evaporated aluminum
I just got my plastic parts coated with several layers of thermally evaporated Al, but the conductivity is not at high at I would like. Is there a simple way to electroplate on a layer to improve the situation?
I have electroless nickel, electroless copper, and acid type copper plating chemistry lying around. If they would do the trick I'd like to use those first.
student - Massachusetts
June 7, 2011
The best way of attaining a good conductivity on plastic is to clean, etch, sensitize, accelerate, activate, electroless plate and electroplate (can be nickel, copper or what have you). This is the normal sequence for plating on plastics. Evaporated aluminum is definitely NOT a good substrate or precursor for subsequent plating.
G. Marrufo-Mexico
Monterrey, NL, Mexico
June 29, 2011
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