1. What is acid copper plating?

Acid copper plating is the process of plating a layer of copper on the surface of copper through an electrolytic process. The process involves placing a copper ingot in an electrolytic cell as the anode, placing an electrolyte in the cell, and then placing a copper plate in the electrolytic cell as the cathode. During this process, an electric current passes through the electrolyte, and metal ions are released and deposited on the surface of the copper plate.

Chemical nature

2. Advantages of Acid Electroplated Copper
Acid electroplated copper has many advantages in manufacturing electronics and electrical appliances, which make it one of the preferred materials in the industry. The following are the advantages of acid electroplated copper

• Good conductivity: Copper itself is a good conductive material, so acid electroplated copper also has the same characteristics.
• Good plasticity: Acid electroplated copper not only has good conductivity, but also has excellent plasticity, which is very commonly used in the manufacture of electrical and electronic components.
• Corrosion resistance: Acid electroplated copper has very good oxidation resistance, is not easily corroded, and is not easily affected by oxidation.

3. Acid copper electroplating electrolyte composition

The electrolyte for acid copper electroplating usually includes copper salt, sulfuric acid and potassium hydrogen sulfate. Sodium salt can also be used in the electrolyte. The ratio of these ingredients will affect the speed and uniformity of the electroplating process.

4. Application of acid copper plating
Acid copper plating is widely used in electronics, electrical appliances, automotive appliances, medical, telecommunications and other industries. Acid copper plating can be used to produce PCBs, on-board devices, closed devices, winding wires, high vacuum tubes and other components

5. Process flow of acid copper plating
The process flow of acid copper plating includes the following steps:

• Surface treatment: scrubbing, degreasing, and deoxidation.
• Pre-treatment before immersion plating: micro-pickling, activation solution treatment, and fine washing.
• Copper plating treatment: control copper ion concentration, temperature, pH value and current density
• Mechanical polishing: obtain a smooth surface through polishing and polishing
• Post-plating treatment: including pickling, cleaning, thermal annealing, cold dip plating and other treatment methods

6. Disadvantages of acid copper plating
Although acid copper plating has many advantages, it also has some disadvantages. One of the biggest disadvantages is that it is not easy to form a uniform surface when the plating thickness is large. In addition, it has a relatively large impact on the environment.