Letter 4039

Tin plating on Aluminum 

-

I want to plate tin onto aluminum. Can I plate directly onto the aluminum,or is an intermediate coating required? I was planning to degrease, de-ox,and zincate the aluminum prior to plating with tin.

Also, what tin bath/vendor do you recommend?

How thick can I plate the tin?

Next, I want to plate tin on a plasma-sprayed tin surface. How do I activate the plasma-sprayed tin to get a good bond?

Thanks,

Wanda Hudson
- Huntsville, Alabama

-

You will need some type of strike or barrier coating between the Tin and Aluminum if you want good results. As far as a vendor it depends on the type of tin. For MSA I've had great success with Enthone OMI. For Alkaline Tin you can make it up yourself. Thickness can be up as much as .001" or more without any problems, depending on the application.

Jim Conner
- Salisbury, MD

-

The way I would recommend to plate Sn on Al is to pretreat the Al with the std. process cycle than immersion Sn the Al. The next step is to either bronze plate the Al or Alkaline Cu plate than Sn plate in either an Alk. Sn or Acid Sn process. As for activating the plasma Sn I would recommend an acid that will dissolve some Sn, either MSA, methane sulfonic acid, or fluorboric acid. The conc. to use will be about 5% by vol.

George Shahin Atotech USA Inc. Rock Hill, SC

I want to post a question or inquiry of my own.

 

I want to answer or follow-up on this question publicly

 

I am a supporting advertiser and want to reach the inquirer privately.