Alkaline Copper Plating
The alkaline electrolytic copper plating process has the purpose of preparing the surfaces of the various details to receive any additional treatment (acid copper, nickel, chromium, brass plating etc …).They can be made thickness from 1 to 3 microns. The copper plating is applied exclusively by galvanic, operating in electrolytic baths in which the object to copper acts as a cathode, while the anode is made from pure copper cathodes.
In alkaline baths the electrolyte is a solution of the cyanide complex Na₃Cu (CN) 4.
The alkaline baths lend instead to direct copper plating of iron / zinc alloy, however, give rise to deposits of a very modest thickness.
The copper plating is used both as a protection against atmospheric corrosion, both to improve the adherence and the protective value of subsequently applied nickel plating.
Frequently the copper plating also finds application in electronics and electrical engineering for the industrial realization of printed circuits and for the coating of steel wires.
We can use the alkaline copper for the preparation of the following materials:
• Brass
• Zama
• Silver
• Bronze