AST Blog

Metal Plating and Coating Solutions for Every Industry

Selecting the Right Metal Plating for Your Application When it comes to metal plating and coatings, selecting the right process depends on several factors, including the base metal, environmental exposure, wear resistance, conductivity, and cost. Whether you need corrosion resistance, increased hardness, or improved conductivity, we offer a range of solutions tailored to your needs. Understanding Your Base Metal Before choosing a plating process, we start with the substrate. The type of metal being plated plays a critical role in determining the best coating. Common base metals include: Application Considerations The intended use of your part dictates the type of plating required. Some typical industry applications include: Choosing the Right Coating Plating serves various purposes, from corrosion resistance to electrical conductivity and abrasion resistance. Below are some of the most common coating options: Corrosion Resistance Virtually all metals need protection against oxidation. Common plating options include: Electrical Conductivity For applications Read more…

By Advanced Surface Technologies, ago
gold plating service

Gold Plating

Gold Electroplating is a method of depositing a thin layer of gold onto the surface of another metal. Gold plating finds its uses in jewelry, semiconductor industry. It often requires that the substrate be cleaned and etched before it can be electroplated with gold. Gold plating solution is made by dissolving an appropriate amount of gold salt into water or other solvent. The solution may contain additives such as cyanide ion (CN) to prevent oxidation of the gold during the plating process. Gold Plating Solutions Gold plating solutions are usually classified according to their composition: Cyanide-free solutions: These solutions do not use cyanide ions to stabilize the gold deposits. They typically have higher concentrations of gold than cyanide-containing solutions. However, they tend to be more expensive because of the cost of the gold salts used. Cyanide-based solutions: These electroplating gold solution contain cyanide ions to stabilize gold deposits. In addition, Read more…

By Advanced Surface Technologies, ago

Plating on Titanium

Plating on titanium parts adds value & functionality for many parts, especially aerospace parts and components. Titanium is an extremely hard metal that can be used in a wide variety of applications. It has excellent corrosion resistance, high strength-to-weight ratio, low density, good thermal conductivity, and high electrical conductivity. Titanium is also highly resistant to abrasion and chemical attack. Titanium is available in three alloys: Ti6Al4V (titanium alloy 6), Ti64 (a special grade of titanium alloy 64) and Ti46Al6V8. The first two are most commonly used, but the third one is more expensive. The process of electroplating or galvanizing titanium involves immersing the part into a bath containing the electrolyte solution. A current is passed through the part, which causes the surface of the part to become coated with a thin layer of metal. This coating may be nickel, zinc, cadmium, tin, chromium, iron, copper, silver or gold. The thickness Read more…

By Advanced Surface Technologies, ago

Electroless Nickel Plating On Magnesium

Electroless nickel plating on magnesium is the preferred engineering coating solution for applications requiring high levels of corrosion and wear resistance, deposit uniformity and hardness, solid lubricity, and solderability. Electroless nickel plating is an autocatalytic chemical process used to deposit a uniform layer of nickel-phosphorous alloy onto a part without the necessity of applying electrical current.   Since the plating process requires no electrical current, the coating produced is a very uniform structure that can be applied over various metals and substrates. Magnesium Plating Uses Magnesium is widely used in aerospace, medical, and military applications as well as automotive, and commercial projects.  Its use has been expanding due to its high strength-to-weight ratio.  Regardless of is application, magnesium needs protective coatings to prevent corrosion.  Advanced Surface Technologies is one of a handful of companies that has developed the expertise to properly apply electroless nickel on a variety of magnesium alloys like AZ91, AZ31, and Read more…

By Advanced Surface Technologies, ago

Chromate Conversion Coating for Aluminum

Chromate conversion coatings are the most widely used coating for corrosion protection of Aluminum Coatings and Corrosion Protection Chromate conversion coatings are used to passivate metals using an immersion bath process. The chromate conversion coating is a thin film that is applied by immersing the metal in a solution containing hexavalent chromium ions, which react with aluminum oxide on the surface of the metal to form a protective layer. This reaction forms a very stable complex with the chromium ion. The coating can be applied as either a single-stage or two-stage process. In the first stage, the metal is immersed in a dilute acid solution containing hexavalent chrome (Cr(VI)) ions, which reacts with the aluminum oxide to produce CrO3−2Al2O3. During this step, some of the hexavalent chromium is reduced to trivalent chromium (Cr(III)). After rinsing, the coated metal is then dipped into a second solution containing hexavalent and/or trivalent chromium Read more…

By Advanced Surface Technologies, ago

Bright Tin Plating

What is bright tin plating? Bright tin plating is a type of electroplated coating that uses tin as its main component. This kind of coating has become very popular because of its high corrosion resistance and excellent wear resistance. Bright tin plating is widely applied in various industries such as automotive, aerospace, medical equipment and electronics. Bright tin plating is also known as bright zinc plating or bright nickel plating. The bright tin electroplating process involves using a special solution containing tin ions. After being immersed into the solution, the substrate is then subjected to a current flow. The current causes the tin ions to deposit onto the surface of the substrate. What is the tin electroplating process? The tin plating process is used for coating metals such as aluminum, copper, brass and steel. This process is also known as electroplating. A tin bath is filled with molten tin and Read more…

By Advanced Surface Technologies, ago

What is Gold Plating?

Gold plating is the process of adding a layer of gold to a metal. This is accomplished both chemically and electrically. By applying a direct electric current to another layer of metal, and applying the gold coating, it creates a chemical bond between the two metals, fusing them together. The layer of a gold coating is very thin, usually in the range of 0.0002 inches. Adding a layer of gold plating to metal has many uses, among them are protection from rust, corrosion or damage. Industrial gold plating companies do large volumes of parts and orders. They do not do gold plating for decorative uses or for single items. Frequently there will be several layers of different metal plating, all used for specific purposes. The Gold Plating Process The first step in gold plating is preparing the surface of the metal. The surface must be very clean in order to Read more…

By Advanced Surface Technologies, ago

Electroless Nickel Plating

Electroless Nickel Plating – Advanced Surface Technologies Being a leader in Electroless Nickel plating AST has 8 Electroless Nickel process lines that are substrate specific. Our experienced staff can construct custom solutions for your distinct finishing needs. Your Metal Finishing Solution Plating Services Electroless Nickel Plating Electroless Nickel Plating with PTFE Boron Nitride Electroless Nickel Gold Plating Electrolytic Nickel Plating Silver Plating Tin Plating Magnesium Plating Passivation Chromate Conversion Coating Electroless Nickel Plating Industrial Electroless Nickel Plating (MIL-C-26074, AMS 2404, ASTM B-733 standards): Advanced Surface Technologies specializes in high quality Electroless Nickel Plating. Electroless Nickel is a high quality engineering coating fo: The advantage that Electroless Nickel has over almost all other plated coatings is the uniformity of the nickel deposit thickness. Without the high and low current density found in electrolytic plating processes, Electroless nickel can deposit into recesses without burning or having excessive thickness on the outer edges of a Read more…

By Advanced Surface Technologies, ago

Ensuring a Chilling Block Keeps Its Cool

AST is a high quality metal finishing company that specializes in electroless nickel plating, gold plating, silver plating, plating on magnesium, tin plating, electrolytic nickel plating, passivation and chemical conversion coatings. A large percentage of AST’s customers are OEM’s and high end machine shops that have stringent quality requirements. One of our clients, one of the largest aluminum recyclers in the country, required a caster that holds 35 heavy chilling blocks weighing 800 pounds each and made with a two-inch copper bottom. Since the copper parts are the only parts that cool the aluminum, they needed a nickel coating to keep the aluminum from fusing with it. Starting from ground zero, we engineered a line with the capacity to coat just the copper bottom while handling the block’s weight. We created a dedicated line with 12 750-gallon tanks equipped with special trays, a unique fixture and a 5-ton crane to Read more…

By Advanced Surface Technologies, ago

Hinging Success on a New Plating Process

AST is a high quality metal finishing company that specializes in electroless nickel plating, gold plating, silver plating, plating on magnesium, tin plating, electrolytic nickel plating, passivation and chemical conversion coatings. A large percentage of AST’s customers are OEM’s and high end machine shops that have stringent quality requirements. Time isn’t always on our customer’s side. When their customer approaches them with a large scale product that’s quickly going to market, they do whatever they can to accommodate. They seek a partner they can trust, who can match their fast delivery without sacrificing quality or value. Enter Advanced Surface Technologies. Our customer came looking for a cost-effective solution for plating a small hinge that was critical to a new product. Time was short and quantities needed were high. The hinge itself was pretty small, and required electroless nickel with PTFE to provide lubrication and prevent corrosion. The obstacle was getting Read more…

By Advanced Surface Technologies, ago

Helping Our Customers Exhale

AST is a high quality metal finishing company that specializes in electroless nickel plating, gold plating, silver plating, plating on magnesium, tin plating, electrolytic nickel plating, passivation and chemical conversion coatings. A large percentage of AST’s customers are OEMs and high end machine shops that have stringent quality requirements. One of our clients was a medical device manufacturer that made pulmonary compression vests for people suffering from Chronic lung disease. They were having a difficult time with an uncoated cast magnesium part that experience consistent wear. It would also cause wear on the pieces around it. Their solution was lightweight and durable, but the uncoated surfaced lacked the proper lubricity. When they came to us, they believed they would have to switch the part to aluminum, but with our experience with magnesium plating, we were able to utilize Electroless Nickel Boron Nitride coating in order to provide the durability and Read more…

By Advanced Surface Technologies, ago

A Refreshing Outcome for a Food Machinery Manufacturer

AST is a high quality metal finishing company that specializes in electroless nickel plating, gold plating, silver plating, plating on magnesium, tin plating, electrolytic nickel plating, passivation and chemical conversion coatings. A large percentage of AST’s customers are OEMs and high end machine shops that have stringent quality requirements. One of our clients, a food machinery manufacturer came to us experiencing a 30% product fallout during the plating cycle on their fabricated parts due to the complexity of plating multiple metals at one time. The fix called for us to vastly change our prep process, not only our undercoats but also how we treat the copper. We implemented a much more robust cleaning practice and applied other metal undercoats before applying the actual plating. By doing so, we could not only protect the fabricated copper parts from corrosion, but also meet rigorous FDA standards for any machine parts that come Read more…

By Advanced Surface Technologies, ago

What is Electroless Nickel with Boron Nitride Plating?

Boron Nitride Electroless Nickel (BNEN) plating is one of the most technologically advanced composite plating processes in the industry. Compared to the multitude of choices for metal finishing services  available, what are the advantages of Boron Nitride Electroless Nickel Plating? What applications and industries benefit from this new technology? Boron Nitride is a chemical compound in which its chemical formula BN consists of equal numbers of boron and nitrogen atoms. The hardness of Boron nitride is inferior only to diamond. Because of excellent thermal and chemical stability, Boron Nitride is widely used in mechanical applications. Boron nitride is not found in nature and is therefore produced synthetically from boric acid or boron trioxide. The cubic (sphalerite structure) variety, called c-BN is formed when BN is prepared with a nanostructure dominated by fine twin domains of average thickness ~3.8 nm. In this form, its hardness exceeds that of synthetic diamond, and its thermal and Read more…

By Advanced Surface Technologies, ago

What is Electroless Nickel Plating?

Several types of electroless plating exist, with electroless nickel plating being the most common by far. Electroless plating is different than electroplating because it is not necessary to pas an electric current through the solution to form a deposit. Electroless nickel plating is a process or technique where a layer of nickel-phosphorous (usually around 12-10%) or nickel-boron alloy is deposited onto a solid workpiece by a controlled chemical reduction. The workpiece is usually made of metal or plastic. The technique used is an auto-catalytic chemical technique which basically means that in the chemical reaction at least of the reactants is a product. The reason electroless nickel coating is the most common is due to the fact that electroless nickel has the unusual quality of being amorphous (without clearly defined shape or form), and not crystalline (having the structure and form of crystal). When a product is coated by electroless nickel Read more…

By Advanced Surface Technologies, ago

Passivation Services by AST

Passivation is a technique used in physical chemistry and engineering in order to protect a material from environmental factors such as air and water, making the material “passive”. A shielding layer of corrosion on is applied on the surface to help create a buffer against corrosion. Passivation is useful in the industrial fields because it strengthens and preserves the appearance of metallic. It remains a critical step in maximizing the essential corrosion resistance of parts and components made from stainless steel. Passivation can occur spontaneously in nature, but typically it is applied as a microcoating to preserve industrial metals and products. Most commonly, passivation services are applied to stainless steel parts in order to increase their resistance to oxidation, rusting and chemical attack. Stainless steel is used in situations where properties of steel and corrosion resistance are required. Stainless steel is a steel alloy with a small amount of chromium. Read more…

By Advanced Surface Technologies, ago