Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

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Type of metal for anode cages

I am a chemist for a cadmium plating shop and am trying to determine what type of metal to use for our anode cages in a cyanide bath. We are currently using titanium but are experiencing some breakdown of this titanium metal, possibly due to the pH being above 13. I have looked in several of the popular plating books/manuals and they indicate the use of steel cages for use in containing the cadmium anode balls. I contacted a metal specialist and he recommended the use of steel but said that stainless steel couldn't conduct the current requirements of our bath. To my knowledge, regular steel isn't approved for use in this bath, but stainless steel was listed as an approved material for the spec. Any suggestions or recommendations would be helpful.

Steven Smithers
- Kansas City, Missouri
 

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Steel was the traditional anode cage material for cadmium plating for decades and it will work fine. I don't know who you are referring to as the approving or disapproving body. Steel anode baskets can lead to the formation of difficult-to-destroy ferro cyanides, so they might present a wastewater treatment problem though.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey