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How do Ordinary PC / ABS Alloys Evolve into Electroplated PC / ABS?

May. 19. 2020

As people have higher and higher requirements on the decorative performance and functionality of automotive exterior parts, the application of electroplated PC / ABS alloys in the field of automotive exterior parts continues to increase. Electroplated PC / ABS is mainly used for gold-plated parts such as car door handles and grilles. Now, I’ll explain a little bit more on the plating grade PC/ABS alloy.

PC / ABS Alloy

PC / ABS Alloy

The plating grade PC / ABS alloy requires good adhesion between the metal plating and the primer. The plating grade PC / ABS Alloy is an alloy formed by blending polycarbonate (PC) and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS). PC is a very common base material in engineering plastics. Its advantages are high mechanical strength and high impact, but poor fluidity and easy to crack. However, as one of general-purpose plastics, ABS has good plating performance and strong corrosion resistance, but its impact is low. Therefore, the combination of PC and ABS provides a new direction for modified engineering plastics.

The mixed PC / ABS material not only has good impact and formability of ABS material, but also widely used in automotive parts, electronics and other products due to the excellent impact and heat resistance of PC material. The reason why PC / ABS can be electroplated is to etch the rubber component (B) by chromic acid / concentrated sulfuric acid to make the surface of the material appear microscopically rough, increase the contact area of the plating layer and the plastic substrate, thereby forming a large number of holes, providing an anchor effect, In order to facilitate subsequent sensitization activation and electroless nickel or copper plating. Therefore, in general, the rubber content in electroplating grade PC / ABS will be significantly higher than that of ordinary grade PC / ABS.

The electroplating grade PC / ABS developed by Xinyite has good plating performance and good formability. It is a good choice for gold-plated parts such as interior and exterior automotive parts, car door handles, grilles and foreign brand alternative materials.