The role of connector palladium plating
Palladium belongs to the platinum group metal and its color is dark white. Palladium coatings are mainly used in the electronics industry, accounting for more than 40% of the demand for palladium. The second type is used as a catalyst, mainly used in the jewelry and dental industries.
The technological development of electroplated palladium was in 1855. At present, electroplated palladium accounts for 8% of the total demand. It is widely used in industries such as computers, automotive connectors, and semiconductor packaging. In recent years, people have discovered that the nickel layer in the jewelry plating can cause skin inflammation, so instead of nickel plating, palladium plating is changed, which increases the consumption of palladium.
Now that the price of gold has risen rapidly, the cost of the electronics industry has increased, which has led to the development of the use of palladium-nickel alloys to replace the gold-plated layer. The physical properties of palladium coatings (such as hardness, ductility, thermal stability) are better than hard gold coatings, but the cost is much lower than hard gold. In addition, the appearance of the palladium-plated layer in decorative electroplating is silver-white, which can also be used to replace the rhodium-plated layer.
The palladium plating layer is stable in high temperatures and high humidity. Can keep the color unchanged for a long time. Electroplating a thin layer of palladium on thick silver can effectively delay the speed of silver discoloration. The hardness of palladium metal is low, but the hardness of palladium plating is very high. In addition, it has excellent weldability and small contact resistance, so palladium plating is commonly used in wear-resistant coatings and contact coatings of electronic components.