Zinc plating is an industrial process that utilizes either solely a chemical reaction of a combination of a chemical reaction and an electrical current in order to deposit a thin coating of zinc onto a metal part. As a commonly used metallic element, zinc (Zn) is also referred to as spelter and is very chemically similar to the element magnesium (Mg).
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Less dense than iron, zinc features blue-white color that is naturally lustrous, but is typically fairly dull in commercial and industrial applications. Zinc is a commonly alloyed metal, specifically with metals such as aluminum, copper, nickel, tin, magnesium, cobalt, gold, iron, lead and many more. Since zinc can be alloyed with so many different metals, it is able to be used in a diverse range of applications requiring varying characteristics in industries such as: hardware, for the plating of various parts and components such as nuts, bolts and screws; automotive, in the plating of safety features such as fuel caps, seat belt components and brake shoes; construction, to plate small parts such as roofing screws to larger building materials such as storm doors; marine, for the plating of sheet metal used in the construction of carriers and other shipping vessels; and industrial manufacturing, to plate machinery, parts and components in order to increase their life span.
Zinc is typically plated through an electrolytic plating process, but can also be plated using electroless methods such as mechanical plating and galvanization. In an electrolytic plating process, the parts requiring plating are immersed in a bath of chemical solution, typically a zinc-salt solution, and then an electrical current is applied in order to achieve deposition of a thin layer of pure or alloyed zinc (depending on what type of zinc is used in the bath solution) onto the metal part. A cold process, the mechanical plating of zinc involves placing the components to be plated into a tumbling barrel that also contains zinc dust, which will then adhere to the part during tumbling. However, since the zinc is mechanically-adhered to the part rather than chemically-bonded, there may be some flaking due to the weaker bond. Zinc can also be electroless plated using the galvanization process, which is a hot working process. In galvanization, the metal part is immersed, or "dipped" as it is often called industrially, into a molten bath of zinc in order to form a zinc coating onto the part. Stronger than the mechanically-formed bond, this type of coating is the result of a metallurgical bond and is a comparatively much stronger bond.
