Industrial Silver Plating Process
Silver shares a number of physical and chemical properties. They are soft, ductile and malleable. With the process of Silver Plating, the silver would crystallize in the face centered cubic configuration and will form a stable alloy with each other in various proportions. The silver material is also capable of resisting even the most common acids, except for the nitric acid. It is widely regarded as a coinage metal and it is for this reason why it is commonly used for various purposes, such as monetary, decorative, etc.
Silver Plating for Electronics
Industrial Silver Plating is used mainly for electronics. Sometimes, the silver is being plated with copper since the electrical resistance of copper is usually lower. It is even more resistance at higher frequencies. The variable capacitors of silver are known to have the highest quality if especially if their plates are silver plated. In the same way, Silver plating even on solid silver cables are used for audiophile applications. But some experts will consider such practice of plating as poorly implemented which makes the result poorer than other copper cables with similar prices.
High Humidity Environment
Utmost care must be observed for parts that are exposed to high humidity environment. If the silver layer is porous and it contains several cracks, the underlying copper will undergo a rapid galvanic corrosion that will flake off the plating and then the copper will be exposed. This process is called the red plague. By history, the process of Silver plating is commonly used to provide a cheaper version of items that will otherwise be made of pure silver. Examples are candlesticks, cutlery, jewelry, etc. The earliest kind of the silver plated plate was the Old Sheffield Plate. In the 19th century however, new methods of production which includes Industrial Silver Plating have been introduced. Another method that is used to apply a thin layer of silver to various objects, including glass, is to make use of the Tollens’ reagent on a glass and then add some Dextrose or Glucose. Afterwards, the bottle will be shaken and a reaction will take place.
Difference of Silver from Gold
With gold, the complex cyanides have a staple pH level value, but are low enough to be used for electrolytes that have no free cyanide. But in the case of Industrial Silver Plating, the complex cyanide is unstable below neutrality which hydrolyzes to release the insoluble AgCN. As a result, the silver imposes a requirement that maintains at least free cyanide on the system and then sets a minimum operating level of pH for cyanide Silver plating solutions that is at least 8.0 to 8.5. In the general class of cyanide silver, you will find that there are several variations available. All are optimized toward anode corrosion and deposits brightness with great plating speed.
As the price of gold and copper continues to increase, it would be practical to choose Silver plating. Just make sure to choose the best company that can provide you with the electro plating services for Silver.