Surface Electroplating and Corrosion Resistance of Cu-6Zn Alloy for Architectural Decoration

Surface electroplating of Cu-6Zn alloy was carried out by changing the concentrations of Sn²⁺, Ag⁺ and Cu²⁺ in the plating solution. The effect of ion concentration in the plating solution on the appearance grade and surface morphology of the surface coating was studied, and the coating prepared by the optimal plating solution was compared with common 63Sn-37Pb coating. The results show that the concentration of Sn²⁺ was 0.20 mmol/L, the concentration of Ag⁺ was 5 mmol/L and the concentration of Cu²⁺ was 1.5 mmol/L, which was the optimum concentration ratio of Cu-6Zn alloy plating solution. Under these conditions, the appearance evaluation level of the alloy was 10, the coating was dense, flat and the crystal was fine; the optimized Sn-Ag-Cu coating had slightly better corrosion resistance than that of 63Sn-37Pb coating.