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Matt Fodge

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Beyond Aesthetics: The Benefits and Uses of Gold Plating in Various Industries

Gold plating is a type of electroplating that deposits a thin layer of gold onto the surface of a metal in order to protect and improve the metal’s properties. Gold plating is especially popular in electrical and electronic applications, due to its good electrical and thermal conductivity, but it has many other uses as well.

The many benefits of gold plating

Gold plating offers many different advantages and comes in several formulations as well, depending on the hardness required. There are three types with increasing hardness and different suitable applications. The softer gold plating types are often used when high purity is required, such as in soldering, wire bonding, and applications where resistance to high temperatures and corrosion is a must. Hard gold plating on the other hand is excellent for applications where constant connection wear could be a problem, such as in interconnect pins and contacts within a system.

Regardless of how hard the plated surface is, the gold plating won’t react chemically or oxidize under normal conditions due to its chemical composition. Gold is also a popular choice for applications that require good infrared reflection, exceptional solderability, and high wear resistance. Also, its color makes this type of plating aesthetically pleasing as well!

The applications of gold plating

As mentioned above, gold is often plated onto parts that will be used in electronics, making it especially popular in telecommunications, commercial and consumer electronics and much more. Its corrosion and wear resistance make this type of electroplating popular in the medical industry as well, where cleanliness and durability are a must. Most often, gold plated products can be found in circuit boards, transistors, computer chips, and semiconductors components.

Gold is a very versatile type of plating. It can be applied to several metal substrates, such as mild, hardened, and stainless steels, and copper and aluminum alloys, while still retaining its conductive properties. It’s also an excellent surface protection for more unconventional metals, such as brass, Inconel, Hastalloy, and Monel.

The applications of gold plating

As mentioned above, gold is often plated onto parts that will be used in electronics, making it especially popular in telecommunications, commercial and consumer electronics and much more. Its corrosion and wear resistance make this type of electroplating popular in the medical industry as well, where cleanliness and durability are a must. Most often, gold plated products can be found in circuit boards, transistors, computer chips, and semiconductors components.

Gold is a very versatile type of plating. It can be applied to several metal substrates, such as mild, hardened, and stainless steels, and copper and aluminum alloys, while still retaining its conductive properties. It’s also an excellent surface protection for more unconventional metals, such as brass, Inconel, Hastalloy, and Monel.

Gold plated parts

Looking for a supplier of gold plating services?

Look no further! Gleco Plating is made up of a team of experts on gold plating, as well as many other types of electroplating, anodizing, and metal surface finishes and coatings. Check out our website to learn more!

Clear Cad Plated Connectors

Bringing Aluminum to Life: Unleashing the Beauty and Benefits of Plating on Aluminum

Aluminum alloys are some of the most widely used across several industries due to their conductivity, lightweight, and easy machinability. As a result, it has become one of the most common substrates for electroplating.

Plating, or electroplating, adds a thin layer of non corrosive metal or a high shine metal to the surface of aluminum, protecting it from scratches, impact damage, and corrosion. This type of metal surface finishing provides excellent protection as well as a quality aesthetic appearance, allowing parts to meet the standards of demanding industries such as Aerospace, Telecommunications, Medical, Energy, and Defense.

The many benefits of plating on aluminum

Plating on aluminum surfaces can come in many different forms, depending on the qualities required for the component. Overall, nearly every type of plating improves the aluminum part’s corrosion resistance, heat resistance, and aesthetics. However, different metals provide different improved properties.

Tin

Tin is most commonly used on parts requiring a nontoxic, highly conductive surface. It also has the benefit of many types of finishes, from matte to bright, and the coating is resistant to cracking and corrosion.

Nickel

One of the most popular types of plating, Nickel plating increases the hardness and corrosion resistance of the surface. It also is very versatile, able to be combined with other metals such as Zinc for improved resistance and other properties.

Silver

Like other metals, Silver offers excellent corrosion resistance and conductivity, as well as good lubricity and solderability. It also often comes in several different grades, hardness levels, and types, all of which offer similar beneficial properties.

Gold

Gold has excellent biocompatibility for aluminum surfaces, which works especially well for the Medical industry. It’s also used for parts that require electrical and thermal conductivity, as well as solderability.

Electroless Nickel

Electroless Nickel is a type of nickel plating that provides exceptional corrosion resistance, increased lubricity, hardness, and wear resistance. It’s also very popular, as it can serve as an undercoating to promote adhesion of other types of plating.

Looking for a supplier of plating services?

Gleco Plating provides the best possible solutions to our customers, with a wide range of plating, anodizing, and other finishing services at your disposal. To learn more, check out our website!

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Nickel vs Zinc Plating – Which One Should You Choose?

Nickel plating and Zinc plating are two of the most popular types of coating, especially in industries such as Automotive, Aerospace, and Defense manufacturing. Both types of plating offer excellent corrosion resistance and protection against rust and oxidation, but each has their own advantages, disadvantages, and best applications. In this article, we’ll go over both types of plating, and when they’re most often used.

Nickel Plating

Nickel plating finishes come in many colors, such as satin, pearl, and black, and have the best adhesion to aluminum alloys. It’s a versatile type of plating that can coat several types of metals besides aluminum alloys, such as copper and copper alloys, various types of steels, brass, aluminum, plastic, and titanium, but some of these materials may require special treatment first.

Because nickel deposits are slow to react in the standard atmosphere, they provide excellent corrosion resistance for many parts. However, nickel plating does not perform as well in harsh environments or applications where the parts are regularly submerged in water or exposed to corrosive conditions.

Nickel plating has several other advantages. It’s a strong finish with high hardness and excellent overall adhesion. If you know that you’ll be adding subsequent finishes to parts, such as chromium coatings, a preliminary nickel plating coat can serve as a protective undercoat. Nickel plating is also an excellent choice for components that require magnetic qualities and lubricity. Most often, it is used to coat aluminum and copper parts for rechargeable batteries, automotive fuel systems, transmission parts, braking systems, and similar applications.

Zinc Plating

Zinc plating is a strong, ductile, and corrosion resistant finish. Zinc plating has better corrosion resistance than Nickel plating, because of a process called galvanic action. Zinc plating forms a sacrificial layer that slowly corrodes before the base metal does, making it an excellent plating for particularly harsh and corrosive environments.

Zinc plating has several different color finishes as well, such as clear/white, yellow, black, and olive drab. It tends to be more cost-effective in the long run due to low material costs and longer shelf life, as well as the fact that it doesn’t require any specialized tools for applications.

Zinc can be prepared in many different bath chemistries, which allows for more customization and improved precision and aesthetics of the coating. It’s also much more environmentally friendly compared to other types of plating such as cadmium, and recyclable as well. All of these properties make zinc plating popular for applications in Aerospace, Defense, Construction Equipment, and Marine manufacturing, especially in brake calipers, pipes, and transmission components.

Conclusion

When choosing between zinc and nickel plating, make sure to keep in mind the environments that your parts will encounter, the costs of each, and the specific properties that your parts will need. Both have their advantages and the applications they’re best suited for, but they are both generally very versatile and excellent coatings.

Are you in need of a supplier of quality finishing solutions? Gleco Plating has one of the widest ranges of plating and finishing capabilities in the finishing industry, and we are a third-generation family business dedicated to collaborating with our community of customers and associates. To learn more about what we can do for you, contact us today!