Metal Plating, What are benefits of plating? What are the types of metal plating?

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What is metal plating?

The plating process is a manufacturing process in which a thin layer of metal coats a substrate. Metal plating provides many benefits to products made from metal and other materials. This mostly achieved through electroplating, which requires an electric current, or through electroless plating, which is in the autocatalytic chemical process. 

Benefits of plating:

  • Improved corrosion resistance
  • Decorative appeal
  • Increased solderability
  • Enhanced hardness 
  • Reduced friction
  • Enhanced paint adhesion
  • Altered conductivity
  • Increased magnetism
  • material deposition

Types of metal plating:

Copper plating



Copper is a popular plating metal for applications that require high conductivity and cost-efficiency. Copper plating often serves as a strike coating pretreatment for subsequent metal platings. It is a popular plating metal for electronics components such as printed circuit boards. High plating efficiency and low material cost make copper one of the less expensive metals to plate with.
There are three types of copper plating processes- alkaline, mildly alkaline, and acid. Higher alkaline levels deliver superior throwing power but required lower current densities and enhanced safety precautions.

Nickel plating



Nickel is a popular plating metal, especially because it is useful in electroless plating. Nickel plating often coats household products such as doorknobs, cutlery, and shower fixtures for enhanced decorations and wear resistance. Nickel plates commonly bond with copper and aluminium but also work on a wide variety of metals and serve as underlying platings for chromium.

Cadmium plating



Cadmium plating was one of time used as a substitute for zinc and other often plated on to miscellaneous automotive items. Aircraft manufacturers specified it for its sacrificial protection characteristics and it's natural lubricity for components that were frequently removed and reinstalled. It was particularly suited to marine environments where it holds up well against fresh and salt water. Due to safety concerns, its used as a plating material has diminished over the year though it is still available.

Chrome plating



Chromium plating often serves a merely decorative purpose but it also fosters heighten corrosion resistance and hardness making it useful for industrial applications where wear is a concern. Here it is referred to as hard Chrome plating and it is sometime used to restore tolerances on warm parts. Chromium used most often plated over nickel in the production of steel furniture automotive trims, etc. Nikhil itself is usually plated copper and the combinations of these three element layers only protect the underlying metal from corrosion by excluding air and moisture; that is, there is no anodic action.does chocolate must be properly applied to achieve suitable corrosion protection.

Chrome plating is an electroplating process that most often involves the use of chromic acid known as hexavalent chromium. Trivalent chromium baths,which consists largely of chromium sulphate or chromium chloride are another option for industrial purposes.

Gold plating



Gold is a prized for its high resistance to oxidation and electrical conductivity. Gold plating, which differs from gilding in that the gold is not a foil, is one of the simplest ways to impart characteristics on metal such as copper and silver. the process is often used for jewelry decoration and for improving the conductivity of electronics parts such as electrical connectors.

Silver plating

Like gold, silver is used in plating applications that call for decorative appeal and improved electrical conductivity. In general silver serves as a more cost-effective plating solution because it is cheaper than gold and plates copper well.

Issues that may limit silver plating as a viable plating solution include humidity and galvanic corrosion. Specifically, silver plating does not work well for applications that are subjected to high humidity because silver is a prone to cracking and hacking from which may eventually expose the base substrate.

Rhodium plating



Rhodium is a type of platinum that provides resistance, scratch resistance and shiny white last appearance. Rhodium plating is also common in jewellery production especially in situations where white gold requires plating. Silver, platinum and copper are also popular base metals for rhodium plating.




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