Prevention of unwanted plating on rack coatings for electrodeposition

Abstract

A support for supporting a component to be plated in a chromic acid-free plating process, the support having a contact surface comprising iodine-treated and/or bromine-treated plastic.

1 . A support for supporting a component to be plated in a chromic acid-free plating process, the support having a contact surface comprising iodine-treated and/or bromine-treated plastic. 
     
     
         2 . The support of  claim 1 , wherein the contact surface comprises iodine-treated plastic. 
     
     
         3 . The support of  claim 1 , wherein the plastic comprises PVC, preferably PVC plastisol. 
     
     
         4 . The support of  claim 1 , wherein the support comprises metal at least partially coated with the plastic. 
     
     
         5 . A plating apparatus for use in a chromic acid-free plating process, the plating apparatus comprising a plating vessel having one or more supports for supporting a component to be plated, the one or more supports having a contact surface comprising iodine-treated and/or bromine-treated plastic. 
     
     
         6 . A method of treating a support for supporting a component to be plated in a chromic acid-free plating process, the support having a contact surface comprising plastic, the method comprising:
 providing a support for supporting a component to be plated in a chromic acid-free plating process, the support having a contact surface comprising plastic;   providing an aqueous solution comprising one or both of iodine and bromine; and   contacting at least a portion of the plastic of the contact surface of the support with the aqueous solution.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the aqueous solution comprises iodine. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the aqueous solution comprises 0.005 to 0.1M iodine, preferably from 0.01 to 0.05 M iodine. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the aqueous solution comprises iodide ions. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the molar ratio of iodide ions to iodine is at least 1:1. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the step of providing the aqueous solution comprises contacting iodide ions with an oxidizing agent in aqueous solution, the oxidising agent selected from iodate ions, persulfate ions, nitrate ions, hydrogen peroxide and combination of two or more thereof, preferably wherein the oxidizing agent comprises iodate ions. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the support is contacted with the aqueous solution for at least 10 seconds, preferably at least 30 seconds, more preferably from 1 to 10 minutes, even more preferably from 1 to 5 minutes. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the plastic of the contact surface of the support comprises PVC, preferably PVC plastisol. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the plating process comprises plating on ABS polymer and/or ABS/PC polymer. 
     
     
         15 . A method of manufacturing the support of  claim 1 , the method comprising the method of:
 providing a support for supporting a component to be plated in a chromic acid-free plating process, the support having a contact surface comprising plastic;   providing an aqueous solution comprising one or both of iodine and bromine; and   contacting at least a portion of the plastic of the contact surface of the support with the aqueous solution.   
     
     
         16 . A process for plating a component, the process comprising:
 providing a component to be plated, the component having an outer surface comprising a plastic;   providing a plating apparatus comprising a plating vessel having one or more supports for supporting a component to be plated, the one or more supports having a contact surface comprising iodine-treated and/or bromine-treated plastic;   mounting the component on a support of the plating apparatus to provide a mounted component;   contacting at least a portion of the plastic of the outer surface of the mounted component with an electrolyte to at least partially etch the plastic to form an etched surface of the component, the electrolyte being substantially free of chromic acid; contacting at least a portion of the etched surface of the component with an activator solution to form an activated surface of the component; and   contacting at least a portion of the activated surface of the component with an electroless nickel solution or an electroless copper solution to form a plated surface of the component.   
     
     
         17 . The process of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the iodine-treated and/or bromine-treated plastic comprises PVC, preferably PVC plastisol; and/or the plastic of the outer surface of the component comprises ABS and/or ABS/PC.   
     
     
         18 . The process of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the electrolyte comprises manganese (III) ions in a solution of from 9 to 15 molar sulphuric or phosphoric acid; and/or   the activator solution comprises a precious metal colloid, preferably wherein the precious metal colloid comprises a first core metal and a colloid metal that colloidally surrounds the core; the core metal comprises at least one metal selected from the group consisting of silver, platinum, palladium and nickel; and the colloid metal comprises at least one metal selected from the group consisting of tin and lead.   
     
     
         19 . The process of  claim 16 , wherein the process further comprises electroplating the plated surface of the component, and wherein the support comprises metal at least partially coated with the iodine-treated and/or bromine-treated plastic. 
     
     
         20 . A method of using an iodine and/or bromine pre-treatment on a support for supporting a component to be plated to inhibit plating thereon during a chromic acid-free plating process, wherein the support has a contact surface comprising plastic, the method comprising the steps of:
 contacting the contact surface comprising plastic with a solution of iodine and/or bromine to infuse iodine or bromine into a surface of the plastic.