Copper & Tin plating

Process Copper & Tin plating

Copper (Cu) is used to coat zinc, aluminium, and magnesium, as first coating before further plating. It is used to improve the solderability of the named materials, decrease their electrical resistance, harden them against abrasive and adhesive wear.

Copper plating is a phase in chromium plating of plastics. It is also used for decoration.

Tin (Sn) is used to plate steel components already coated by nickel or copper, against corrosion; steel plates for the conservation industry; for improving the solderability of surfaces in the electronic industry. Basic and acid electrolytes are used.

Danish Name Elektrolytisk udfældning af kobber og tin

Category Surface treatments, Electroplating

Materials Coating materials:
Copper
Tin
Substrates for copper:
Zinc (Zn)
Aluminium (Al)
Magnesium (Mg)
Plastics
Substrate for tin:
Steel
Copper & nickel plated parts

Typical products Baking tin (Sn)
Washer (Sn)
Water tap (Cu)

References Arbeitsgemeinschaft - Galvanotechnik
Galvanisk Kompagni A/S

Price notes Each field in the table below displays three cost figures. The first two refer to copper-plating, one for all substrates except steel (technical and decorative) and the other for technical applications on steel. The third figure refers to tin-plating.

DKK/part	5 parts	100	5000
Small (1cm2)	84 / 84 / 84	11 / 11 / 11	0.083 / 0.18 / 0.069
Medium (1dm2)	117 / 127 / 116	22 / 32 / 21	0.71 / 1.65 / 0.55
Large (100dm2)	276 / 510 / 240	159 / 392 / 122	58 / 151 / 42

Price date December 1996

Environmen- tal notes Use:Tin is unpoisonous.
Disposal: Both tin and copper can cause problems when recycling steel.

Additional info Over 5000 parts the price doesn't vary so much. The price is calculated for a typical average thickness: 25 micron (Cu); 7 micron (Sn). The cost of tin is relatively high. Labour is the most important factor for pricing.

Photo Thomas Nissen (Computer graphics)