New Oevelopments in the Metal Finishing Field Compiled by Anselm Kuhn, Metal Finishing Information Services Ltd.

Recently published patents

Non-Cyanide Copper Plating Process for Zinc and Zinc Alloys EP 1483430 (MacDermid Inc.) Stewart, R.; Steinecker, C.P., et al. Adherent copper coating on a zinc or zinc alloy article without the use of cyanide where the article is first immersed in an aqueous nick- el pyrophosphate solution and is then electroplated with a copper pyrophosphate solution. The method produces an adherent cop- per coating on the zinc or zinc alloy, which can be deformed with- out any loss of the copper coating.

Apparatus and Method for Applying Diamond-Uke Carbon Coatings EP 1483426 (Teer Coatings Ltd.) Teer, D. CVD using pulsed-DC biased power has metal layer, transition metal carbide, then DLC.

Coating Composition for a Metal Substrate EP 1485519 (Dacra!) Poulet, J.M.; Chesneau, A., et al. Conversion coating composition for metal subs t ra tes with an outer surface consist ing of a layer of zinc or a luminum or their alloys contains: (A) five to 30 wt.% sodium, potass ium or l i thium silicate; (B) zero to one wt.% surfactant; and (C) water (to 100%). Also for metallic sub- s t ra tes coated as above by deposit ing a sui tably thin, wet film and then drying the film.

High Speed Acid Copper Plating EP 1485522 (Taskem Inc.) Bokisa, G. Aqueous copper plating bath con- taining sulfuric acid with a specific ratio to at least one supplemental

acid selected from the group con- sisting offluoboric acid, alkane sul- fonic acids, and alkanol sulfonic acids; a copper salt; chloride ions; and at least one sulfate bath brightener. Or a similar plating bath containing fluoboric acid and/or an alkane sulfonic acid but no sulfuric acid, copper sulfate, chloride ions, and at least one sul- fate bath brightener. Methods of plating copper at high speed using relatively high current densities.

carbyl reactions such as furnace tubes for cracking.

Colloidal Composite Sol Gel Formulation with an Expanded Gel Network for Making Thick Inorganic Coatings WO 2004113255 (Datec Coating Corp.) Barrow, M.; Olding, T Sol gel formulation and process for making thick coatings of up to 300 pm in thickness in a sin- gle deposition.

Composite Surface on a Steel Substrate WO 2004113588 (Nova Chem Int. SA) Benum, L. W.; ObaUa, M. C., et al. Composite surface having a thick- ness from 10 to 5,000 microns comprising a spinel of the formula Mn(x)Cr3(1-x)O 4 wherein x is from 0.5 to 2 and oxides of man- ganese and silicon selected from the group consisting of MnO, MnSiO3, Mn2SiO 4 and mixtures thereof, which are not prone to coking and are suitable for hydro-

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