In the production process using acid copper brightener, the copper sulfate in the plating solution mainly provides copper ions to fill the solution with free metal ions. Only in this way can electro-deposition occur on the cathode surface and form a coating. However, the traditional method of adding copper sulfate has some drawbacks. So, is there any good solution to address these issues?
The traditional method for replenishing copper sulfate in an electroplating plant is to place solid copper sulfate in a small tank, mix it with water, and then heat it to dissolve. After cooling the copper sulfate, it is filtered and then enters the copper sulfate plating solution tank.
However, this method has many drawbacks. For instance, too much water is used, which makes it impossible to add to the plating solution tank due to its excessive volume; if the water usage is too low, the copper sulfate cannot dissolve easily or re-crystallize after cooling, thus also making it impossible to add to the plating solution tank. Moreover, operations such as dissolution, heating, and filtration require a lot of manual labor.
As a manufacturer of acid copper plating brighteners, Bigely discovered during its on-site technical service that some electroplating factories, in order to solve the aforementioned problems, would use air cathode bags to pack solid copper sulfate during production. These bags would be tied and hung at both ends of the cathode rod and then immersed in the plating solution to allow it to naturally dissolve and replenish. Generally, the dissolution rate of copper sulfate in the air cathode bag is slow. As long as the content of copper sulfate in the plating solution does not sharply decrease due to large-scale processing or leakage, it can meet the requirements of the process.
Furthermore, the copper sulfate in the anode bag slowly dissolves in the plating solution. Thus, it avoids the instability in concentration caused by the one-time large addition of copper sulfate, and provides a reliable measure to stabilize the electroplating quality.
Using this new method, although the content of copper sulfate in the acid copper solution can tend to stabilize, (this term often appears in electroplating) due to the continuous current passing through the anode during production, it will be dissolved into the copper ions required for the deposition coating. As a result, the area of the anode will also shrink. If the process managers are negligent and fail to inspect and replenish the anode in time, then eventually, due to the reduction in the area of the anode, there may be a decrease in the content of copper sulfate or an uneven initial current distribution.
Therefore, Bigely engineer suggested to the electroplating factory that if they were to use this new method, they still needed to conduct chemical analysis to monitor the copper sulfate content. However, the monitoring period could be appropriately extended.
About us
Guangdong Bigely Technology Co., Ltd. ,founded in 2003, is a high-tech enterprise integrating R & D，production, sales and service, specializing in the production of electroplating chemicals. As a fast growing electroplating chemicals supplier in China, Bigely has over 20 years' experience in electroplating additives production and own production base of 5000 square meters. We can produce 15,000 tons of electroplating additives every year, which can fully meet the needs of customers.
If you need our high-quality electroplating additives, please contact us. We can provide you samples for test, and also provide a series of services.
