Effect of Nano-graphite Addition on Properties of Cyanide-free Ag Brush Plating

An environmentally friendly cyanide-free silver brush plating process was explored. A dense silver-graphite composite coating with evenly dispersed graphite particles was prepared by adding nano-graphite particles of 50-80 nm. The non-cyanide electroplating process and Ag-graphite composite coating were tested and studied by modern analysis technology. The results indicated that the addtion of nano-graphite would improve the hardness, compactness of Ag coating and enhance the electrodeposition rate. However, in the solution environment the coating corrosion resistance was slightly reduced. With the increase of graphite content in the coating the coating corrosion resistance dropped first and then increased.