Umicore Electroplating's alloy coatings have been successful on the market for decades. The advantages of being able to deposit alloys with almost identical layer characteristics in relation to the pure precious metal much more economically are well known. However, this privilege was usually reserved for industrial customers, as the electrolytes were specially designed for large volumes. This is understandable - with large volumes, even small fluctuations in the price of precious metals can cause considerable costs in production, which need to be kept calculable.
As the price of rhodium continued to rise, so did the demand for a more cost-effective alternative for small quantities. Today, rhodium costs around 40 times more than it did five years ago, a price trend that can no longer be easily absorbed even for small batches. Umicore Electroplating has responded to the wishes of many distributors and their customers by developing RHODUNA® PT ONE, an electrolyte specially designed for small-scale rhodium plating.
The coating properties are almost identical to those of its big brother RHODUNA® PT
RHODUNA® PT ONE application example ringDue tothe high price of rhodium at the time (peaking at €80/g), Umicore developed the rhodium-platinum electrolyte RHODUNA® PT in 2018. The price of platinum, which has remained constant over the years, still greatly relativizes the price increase of rhodium today. The resulting cost savings and only irrelevant qualitative compromises for decorative processes meant that the product quickly became successful on the market. Today, it is a fixed component for many renowned major customers and thus an established basis for the available ONE variant. The almost identical coating properties to those of its big brother RHODUNA ® PT result from the product proximity. For example, the abrasion resistance is also specified as 600 HV and the maximum coating thickness (up to 0.3 μm) or the density of the coating (approx. 18.7 g/cm³) differ only marginally.
Even the L* value of 88 differs only insignificantly (-0.9) despite the significantly higher platinum content. The difference in brightness is therefore difficult to detect even for a trained eye under optimum conditions, making the coating just as attractive to end customers as a conventional industrially produced rhodium coating with RHODUNA® PT.
Electrolyte and handling is specially tailored for beaker applications
RHODUNA® PT ONE application example trailer"We quickly saw the need for customization for small series. The costs have gotten out of hand over the last few months, even in this context, and switching to other precious metals is not an adequate substitute for certain requirements and applications. With RHODUNA® PT ONE, we want to cushion the enormous increase in the price of rhodium for small electroplating shops so that high-quality production can continue even on a small scale," explains Markus Legeler (Head of International Sales). The fact that the rhodium-platinum electrolyte has indeed been fundamentally revised and optimized to meet the special requirements for small series is evident in less obvious areas. For example, the metal content has been reduced to 1 g (0.3 g/l Rh, 0.7 g/l Pt) per liter, which has a further positive effect on the purchase price - last April, this resulted in a price saving of approx. 65% compared to a pure rhodium electrolyte.
And Umicore has not only made some adjustments in terms of efficiency, it has obviously also invested a great deal in further simplifying handling. In addition to the electrolyte, only the simplest equipment is required for the coating. The fact that the specified parameters (temperature, time, current, etc.) often cannot always be constantly met has also been taken into account. This means that good coating results in a wider tolerance range are possible with simple means.
The RHODUNA® PT product family continues to grow
Due to the success of the RHODUNA® PT electrolyte introduced 3 years ago, the product family is being continuously developed. The originally static electrolyte can now be used much more flexibly in terms of its alloy composition (50% Rh, 50% Pt). Thanks to the components of the process, the proportion can now be used variably by the user - a variable mixing ratio of 20 to 80 is now easily possible in both directions. The initial positive feedback on RHODUNA® PT ONE has prompted Umicore to now also offer RHODUNA® PT in a 1g version (previously only 2g). In addition, Umicore recently launched RHODUNA® PT PEN, a sophisticated pen variant for targeted, partial rhodium plating.
Sources and further information online:
http://ep.umicore.com/pt-one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqC0pext658
http://ep.umicore.com/sparen
