MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR OPTIMIZATION OF ZINC-NICKEL ALLOY CO-DEPOSITION PROCESS

Abstract

In protection against corrosion domain nickel remains the principal metal for coverings, fact which is proved by the dynamics of annual global production. Nickel has an important role in automotive industry and it is used together with zinc. At present the change of electroplating processes with purpose to use with maximum efficiency resources of energy and materials is being focused on. Also for environment protection reasons, it is aknowledged that electroplating processes generate as few polluting substances as possible. In consequence, the processes using heavy metals (as cadmium, intensively used until now) are going to be replaced by processes using alloys. Alloys with superior properties, which are cheaper and have a lower environmental impact have been promoted. The electronic industry is another domain which stimulates development of alloy electroplating processes, because many components are produced through electrochemical procedures. Thorough control of processes is very important in electronic micro-components manufacturing and miniaturization. In this paper a mathematical model describing the nickel and zinc-nickel alloys electrodeposition phenomena is made. It is based on the influence of substratum through deposition and aims to calculate the partial current densities for every species, to predict composition of alloy, if the electrodeposition conditions are known. Corresponding to this mathematical model a software was made to calculate and establish the composition of zinc-nickel alloy.