Stripping Nickel and Gold
Question: How do you go about stripping nickel and gold from aluminum substrates?
Question:
How do you go about stripping nickel and gold from aluminum substrates? N. E.
Answer:
I am assuming that the gold is plated over the nickel. Probably the most common way of stripping the deposits from the substrate is to use a 15–75% solution of concentrated nitric acid. The nitric acid should not have any effect on the aluminum as long as there is no chloride ion present in the solution. Of course, the nitric acid will not strip the gold deposit but instead will undercut the gold when it attacks the nickel layer. Personally, I recommend that you purchase a proprietary nickel stripper. In my experience, they work better than “home brews.” You can find suppliers of such materials in the Products Finishing Directory and Technology Guide, 2005, (800) 950-8020, under Stripping Solutions. Or better yet, you can find vendor information in pf's suppliers directory.
Related Content
-
A Chromium Plating Overview
An overview of decorative and hard chromium electroplating processes.
-
Cleaning, Pretreatment to Meet Medical Specs ISO 13485 or FDA 21 CFR820
Maximilian Kessler from SurTec explains new practices for industrial parts cleaning, metal pretreatment and decorative electroplating in the medical device industry.
-
3 Tests to Ensure Parts are Clean Prior to Plating
Making sure that all of the pre-processing fluids are removed prior to plating is not as simple as it seems. Rich Held of Haviland Products outlines three tests that can help verify that your parts are clean.
