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SURFACE & FINISHING / PLATING ON PLASTICS

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PLATING ON PLASTICS

The more common applications for Plating On Plastics (POP) today are decorative components for automotive exterior and interior parts such as front grills, emblems, letterings and decorative strips.

In addition, there are also many applications in the areas of sanitary (plumbing) fittings, electronics such as decorative covers for mobile phones and household appliance components.

More than 90% of the plastic parts plated today are manufactured from ABS and ABS/PC resins. Both resin types can be mass produced with high surface quality with injection moulding processes. As a result, the plated surfaces and final layer finishes have a high optical quality combined with very high corrosion and abrasion resistance for the parts being coated which helps meet all appearance and engineering performance specifications.

The SILKEN POP pre-treatment consists of seven balanced single processes steps SILKEN CLEANER, SILKEN Etch, SILKEN NEUTRALIZER; SILKEN CATALYST; SILKEN ACCELERATOR, SILKEN METAL Electroless Nickel and SILKEN CU 801. There are various product choices in each category that provide flexibility for the applicator for easy adaptation into the production line.

The SILKEN BOND process is developed and targeting for the need of the next generation POP system providing a complete chrome-free plastic pre-treatment system for applicators and the Industry.

The SILKEN BOND Process is state of the art technology that can be integrated with minimal effort into existing plating lines and represents the future for processing plastics.

SILKEN is a process line for the pre-treatment of ABS – PC/ABS and PP-plastic materials for Electroplating. The SILKEN Line includes products for all process steps from pre-cleaning to etching to Electroless Nickel plating. The SILKEN processes are particularly environmentally friendly. The pre-treatment with the SILKEN process leads to a very smooth, uniform surface and supports a high degree of brightness of the final finish while providing excellent adhesion of the electroplated deposit. Due to the reductions in waste water treatment and the reduced aggression on the plating equipment, the SILKEN process provides large economic advantages over conventional plastic pre-treatment processes.

Fields of applications

  • Automotive
  • Sanitary Fittings
  • Building
  • Sanitary Fittings
  • Packaging
  • Lighting
  • Electrical Equipment
  • Electronics & Connectors
  • Eyewear
  • Fashion and Luxury
  • Furniture
SILKEN ACCELERATOR 601
Solid Accelerator		SILKEN ACCELERATOR 602
Liquid Accelerator for Plating On Plastics		SILKEN CATALYST 501
Colloidal Palladium Activator for Plating On Plastics
SILKEN CATALYST 502
Colloidal Palladium Catalyst for Plastic Metallization Cycle		SILKEN CU 801
Immersion Copper for Plating On Plastics		SILKEN METAL 701
Ammonia-Free Alkaline Electroless Nickel For Plastic Metallization Cycle
SILKEN METAL 709
Ammonia Based Electroless Nickel for Plating On Plastics		SILKEN NEUTRALIZER 404
Neutralizing Reducing Agent for Plastic Metallization Cycle		SILKEN WET 302
PFOS Free Wetting Agent For Chrome Sulphuric Etch

SILKEN BOND is an innovative process, developed for the etching of ABS and PC/ABS. As SILKEN BOND does not contain hexavalent Chrome, it is completely free of hexavalent Chromium regardless the operative conditions. The process is based on acidic permanganate, but its concentration is far below 1.0 g/l that is typically an important benchmark for this type of technology. A big benefit of the SILKEN BOND ETCH is the usage of a special designed oxidation cell, which offers a long life system of the process. Compared to other chrome free etch technologies, SILKEN BOND ETCH is not hygroscopic, so no volume growth due to water absorption. SILKEN BOND is the first step of a process of plating on plastic.

Fields of application

  • Sanitary Fittings
  • Automotive Industry
  • Electronics
  • White Goods
  • Perfume Packaging
SILKEN BOND ETCH
Silken Bond