What is the electroplating technology？

Using the principle of electrolysis, a thin layer of other metals or alloys is plated on the surface of some metals. Thus to prevent metal oxidation, extend the service life, increase the effect of beauty.

Gold plating is a decorative process, but also an important factor in the quality of jewelry materials, this article we will explain in detail about the category of gold plating, coating properties, electroplating process and you need to know some of the relevant knowledge.
✔️ Two gold-plated categories
✔️ Two coating properties
✔️ Three electroplating processes

🔻 Gold plated category 🔻
1⃣ Gold plating of homogeneous materials:
Homogeneous material gilding refers to a way of gilding the surface of gold jewelry, which can effectively improve the brightness and color of jewelry.

2⃣ Gold plating of heterogeneous materials:

Heterogeneous material gold-plating is the surface of non-gold materials to do gold-plating process, such as silver gold-plating, copper gold-plating, titanium steel gold-plating, are the use of gold gloss to replace the original color of the plated material, so that the surface of the material has a gold appearance, to achieve the ornamental effect of gold-plated jewelry.

👇The more popular consumer-grade jewelry on the market is mostly gold-plated material, which is generally divided into two categories: one is ordinary electroplating, and the other is real gold electroplating.

🔻 Coating properties 🔻
▶Ordinary plating
Imitation gold plating, mainly for non-gold gold plating, also known as different material gold plating, a non-gold plating method, mostly based on brass liquid, adding other elements, so that the material has a similar surface color of real gold, cheap, thin coating, color holding period is short. For example: sterling silver gold plated, copper gold plated. This kind of jewelry because the coating is relatively thin, although the color retention period is relatively short, but properly maintained or can not fade for several months. The cost is much higher than ordinary electroplating.

▶Real gold plating
The electroplating layer is real gold, and the color is 24k > 18k > 14k from deep to light, of which the color of 24k gold electroplating is the most yellow, and the color of 14k gold electroplating will be bluish. The texture of real gold plating is stronger than that of imitation gold plating, and the cost is more than 4 times higher than that of imitation gold plating, and the color preservation is durable and not easy to fade.

👉Internationally accepted gold plating plating thickness standard:
(10 micron -25 micron) > (2 micron -3 micron) > (below 0.18 micron)

💡Ps: Coated jewelry below 0.18 microns cannot be called gold-plated jewelry can only be called gold-coated jewelry.

Gold deposit and gold injection is a process of attaching a layer of real gold metal film to the surface of metal or other accessories under high temperature and high pressure using the principle of electrolysis. It is also a kind of electroplating technology, which is not easy to fade. There are two kinds of Chinese gold deposit (normal color retention 2-3 years) and American gold injection (normal color retention 3-5 years +).

🔻 Plating technology🔻
Vacuum plating in furnace > Vacuum plating outside furnace > Water plating

Three electroplating technology:

1⃣ Vacuum gold plating in the furnace: as the name suggests, the workpiece is placed in the vacuum furnace, so that the coating material (gold plating with gold) as the target, under the condition of high temperature, high vacuum and high voltage, generate ion beam, under the action of external electric field, sputtering to the surface of the material that needs to be coated, forming a gold layer. It can also be mixed with other colored or precious metals according to needs to form gold alloys of different proportions and different colors. However, due to space limitations, only small products can be electroplated, and copper, silver, and alloy materials will be scrapped and melted under high temperature and pressure, so the common vacuum electroplating jewelry materials in the furnace are basically steel and titanium, and the color holding period is 1-3 years.

2⃣ Vacuum plating outside the furnace: The use of the bottom coating in the vacuum furnace first, and then take out, and then use the electrolytic gold plating method (water plating) gold plating method instead, because the use of this method of gold plating is gold-plated outside the vacuum furnace, it is also known as “furnace gold”.

3⃣ Water plating: the jewelry material is placed in the plating tank electroplating, copper, alloy, silver, titanium steel and other materials of jewelry, can be used in the way of hydropower, but this plating method of color preservation time is relatively short. Only about half a month.

💡Vacuum electroplating in the furnace has the best color preservation quality, but because of space limitations, only small products can be electroplated, copper, silver, alloy materials will be scrapped and melted under high temperature and pressure, so the common vacuum electroplating jewelry materials in the furnace are basically steel and titanium, and the color holding period is 1-3 years.

💡Vacuum plating outside the furnace can accept large objects plating, water plating quality is the worst, the shortest color retention period, only about half a month.

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