In the process of electroforming and electroplating, such as machining tools, electromechanical and mold structures, in order to avoid the problem of pores caused by hydrogen foaming and adhesion, it is often necessary to add wetting agents, also known as surfactants, to nickel and copper plating cylinders. On the other hand, the addition of such surfactants in appropriate amounts is to achieve a glossy surface and to control the quality of coating properties such as ductility, hardness, intrinsic tension, etc. Conversely, excess surfactant can cause unwanted air bubbles in the bath, which can adversely affect the coating. Often there is a statistical relationship between the activator concentration and the properties of the coating.
During the electroplating process, the concentration of surfactant is not constant. Its concentration will be affected by factors such as the workpiece being carried out and the residue in the bath. In particular, the rot deposits of active agents will accumulate more and more in the galvanic layer, which will directly affect the quality of electroplating. Therefore, it is particularly important to monitor the concentration of surfactants for the reliability and quality control of the process, so as to ensure that the consumption is supplemented and excessive addition is avoided.
In the past, established wetting analysis methods, such as chemical and delamination methods, were generally used, but they could only provide test results, and would take a lot of time and cause many errors. In Europe, a new technology - the dynamic surface tension method (principle of the maximum bubble method) to monitor the concentration of active agents has been maturely applied.
Surface tensiometer
The maximum bubble method is a very time-saving, accurate and relatively clean test method. The SITA tensiometer is developed based on the maximum bubble method. It can obtain the dynamic surface tension corresponding to the bubble life in real time, so as to obtain the correlation and repeatability with the surfactant concentration. It only takes tens of seconds to test and analyze the active agent concentration in the electroplating tank with SITA dynamic Surface Tensiometer.
