For decades, hexavalent chromium, also known as Cr(VI), has been used in the plating industry as a decorative finish (chrome plating) and in the pretreatment of plastic materials to enable their metallization (commonly known as a chromosulfuric acid etch).
Despite their technical capabilities hexavalent chromium and chromates are listed as substances of very high concern (SVHC) in the European Union. This has meant that to use them requires authorization according to REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals).
Understandably the industry has sought to find suitable alternatives to these Cr(VI) substances and the path to finding suitable alternatives has been long and difficult for everyone. Now Atotech is proud to announce that we can supply a complete range of Cr(VI)-free processes for the pretreatment of plastics as well as decorative processes that fulfil REACH requirements.
In our webinar, Konstantin Thom will give you an overview of our Cr(VI)-free pretreatment for plastics, known as the Covertron® family, and will show you the technical performance achievable with these new technologies.
Agenda
Atotech processes for Cr(VI)-free plating on plastics
Etching patterns
Technical performance
Status and outlook
Konstantin Thom
Global Business Development Manager Decorative Coatings and Plating on Plastics
Konstantin Thom, Graduated Engineer of Business Administration and Chemical Engineering, has been working in the electroplating industry since 2005. First as a Chemical Engineer in the research and development of corrosion protection coatings at Atotech in Germany, from 2013 as Deputy Global Product Manager for decorative coatings and coatings on plastics. Since 2015 he has been coordinating worldwide customer-related projects as Business Development Manager DECO/POP.