Additives for the electroplating industry

The product portfolio of BTC Europe includes a variety of additives for industrial metal finishing. In the metal industry, the process of electroplating is an essential process. These processes are used to improve the visual appearance of surfaces by applying chemical processes such as nickel plating, gilding or chrome coatings. Metals are coated with materials such as zinc, nickel, chromium, gold, silver, platinum, tin, aluminum and copper depending on the applications and special finishing properties.

In addition to our specialized additives for zinc, tin, nickel and zinc alloys, our portfolio also offers special additives that, among other things, support solubilization, serve as dispersants or raise the cloud point. 

In addition, additives are required for electroless metal deposition.  With the BTC products Lutron®, Lupasol Pluronic® and Pluriol®® E, excipients for formulations for electroplating are offered. Electroless electroplating is a sub-segment of the electroplating industry in which chemical reactions are predominantly used instead of electricity for metal deposition. Among other things, this process is used in the production of printed circuit boards (PCBs). The main components of electroless electroplating consist of a source metal, for example the salt nickel hypophosphate (Ni(H2PO4)), a reducing agent, a complexing agent, and various buffers, stabilizers and inhibitors. In these processes, Lutron® of BTC works as a stabilizer or inhibitor. Lutron®, Lupasol Pluronic® and Pluriol®® E are products of BTC and are additives that serve as stabilizers, inhibitors and cannabis enhancers and meet the requirements of formulations that use electroless electroplating as a process.

The BTC Europe additives for applications in the electroplating industry are amphiphilic products that are added to the electroplating process to improve defined properties of the electroplating metal. The framework conditions of the process are often difficult due to the starting materials. Therefore, neutral properties of the entire additives are required. The special additives of BTC Europe are

• water-soluble
• compatible under different process conditions,
• especially the Tamol® types are pH insensitive. They are stable over the entire pH range.

Our Lutensol®, Pluriol, Pluronic® and Tamol®® grades offer specialized properties and are therefore ideal for optimizing processes in the electroplating industry.