Electroless Nickel on Magnesium

For over 35 years, Advanced Surface Technologies has been a leader in metal finishing technologies. In keeping with their reputation for innovative techniques and metal finishing solutions, AST offers electroless nickel plating on magnesium. AST is one of only a few plating shops in the country capable of finishing magnesium and AST offers several plating options.

Magnesium is the world's lightest structural metal (30% lighter than aluminum) contains outstanding strength to weight characteristics and has excellent vibration damping capacity. Magnesium provides practical applications, especially in high-temperature situations but it is difficult to plate. If not properly prepared and cleaned prior to plating Magnesium, being an active material, will destroy the plating bath resulting in expensive replacement costs. The smallest pore in the metal will become a corrosion site in an acid medium resulting in both the destruction of the part and the plating bath.

The quality of the incoming material, which is often castings, is critical to the success of the process. Companies that plate onto magnesium substrates have developed proprietary processes that allow them to successfully deal with the nuances of the materials.