Electroplated nickel
Electroplated nickel (also known as electrolytic nickel plating) is a coating made of pure nickel that is deposited with the help of electricity. As a rule, multilayer systems such as Fe / Cu / Ni or Fe / Cu / Ni / Cr are deposited. Iron or steel is only protected from corrosion by a 25 to 50 µm thick Ni layer ; Another variant is the double nickel to increase the corrosion protection. Electroplated nickel layers are usually used as optical corrosion protection layers or as a soldering base. In order to create optically shiny layers, brightening additives are added to the nickel baths. Since the sulfur components of the additives decompose, the layers slowly yellow over time; therefore, Cr layers are often applied to galvanic nickel layers. The coating speed is regulated via the current flow. This means that very thick layers can be deposited in a very short time.
Systems for surface coating
Galvanic layers are deposited in systems that theoretically can always pass through the electrolyte without much maintenance effort. Except for regular cleaning cycles, the baths do not require any further extensive maintenance, in contrast to chemical baths, in which z. B. electroless nickel is deposited. The high deposition rate and the lower maintenance requirements compared to chemical nickel mean that much lower costs and thus lower prices can be achieved.